#/nm once again thanks for your thoughts

[foreingersgod]

ok hiiii! i’m the anon that asked for nika! sooo maybe a fic where reader is another players sister (or best friend, whatever you think would fit) and the player brings reader to a game and reader meets nika and it’s like love at first sight? maybe not as cringy as i made it sound lol, but i hope you get what i mean!

💗💗

to requester: i saw your other request and decided i’ll do them separately so we can enjoy more nika content!

Best Friends Sister . NM

pairing: nika muhl x reader

synopsis: you tag along with your parents for your sister’s game, not knowing it would be the best decision of your life.

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

paigey: are you coming tonight with mom and dad or no?

you: only if you don’t hit me with another basketball then sure

paigey: i said i was sorry, dude. you should come though, i haven’t seen you for a minute

you: yea sorry, been busy and stuff. i’ll be there!

it was rare for you to attend your sister’s games on a regular basis. as much as you loved her and wanted to support, you were slammed with work and school and friends, the whole 9 yards. plus, watching millions of girls freak out over your sister was not your idea of a good time. but you’d been missing paige lately and wanted to show your sisterly support at least a few times this season.

so there you were, sitting outside your apartment on the concrete steps of the building, waiting for your parents to pick you up for the game. clad in UCONN attire, you picked at the weeds growing in between the cracks of stone.

arriving at the stadium, you could already sense the chaos. seeing all the girls there to see your sister play, it was a weird feeling. but once you made your way closer to the court with your family, seeing how happy paige looked out there, it made you feel insanely proud.

UCONN was up by 6 and your sister was killing it. being able to see her improvement throughout the game was truly rewarding to see. you cheered and hollered for each score until the end of the game finally rolled around, UCONN secured the win.

paige celebrated with her team for a few moments, reveling in their success before making her way to where you all sat. she greeted your parents with hugs, mom kissing her on the cheek and dad patting her back. then she maneuvered to you, dabbing you up before pulling you into a hug or your own.

“you killed it out there loser,” you congratulated “glad i got to see you play tonight, i’ve missed you!”

she laughed “thanks, me too”

paige worked her way around the rest of your family, taking time to chat with everyone. then she pulled you aside, motioning for you to follow her back down to the court.

“what?” you questioned, showing up at her side.

“thought i’d introduce you to everyone, plus aaliyah hasn’t seen you in forever and has been begging to see you”

you were always close with a few a her teammates, some of them being in paige’s life for so long that they became a part of your family. aaliyah, you were especially close with. but a lot of her other, newer teammates, you had yet to meet.

when you arrived on the court, paige leading you to the team, you started to spot some familiar faces. aaliyah ran over to you the second she saw you. pulling you into a bear hug and scolding you for not visiting more often. you greeted ice, too, congratulating her on a good game. it was nice to see them all again, catching up for lost time.

while in a conversation with aaliyah about how your job was going, paige politely pulled you aside again. she dragged you through the small crowd saying “i wanna introduce you to someone, i don’t think you’ve met yet”

finally, she stopped pulling you, coming to a halt just in front of the bench seats. paige was right, some girl you didn’t recognize sat on one of the seats, wiping the sweat from her brow and catching her breathe.

“hey, nika, i wanted to introduce you to my sister, YN!” paige said over the havoc of the stadium.

she looked up upon hearing paige summon her, eyes moving from paige’s and then to yours. she caught your attention right away, and suddenly, nothing else mattered once you locked eyes with the girl.

nika, you recalled paige calling her that, was the most beautiful girl you’d seen in your entire life. you studied every feature of her face right in that moment. her hair, you could only imagine how soft it was, pulled back in a near ponytail. her rosy cheeks, flush from exhaustion and excitement. her pearly white teeth that were so bright when she smiled at you. she was perfection if it were a person.

she was examining you as well, you could tell by the ways her eyes flickered between your eyes and down to your lips (triangle method iykyk). for a faint moment, it was just the two of you, lost in each others gaze. there was something about her, you couldn’t place it, but you wished you’d never have to look away.

unfortunately for you, your day dreams were interrupted when paige spoke up, confused by the silence.

“earth to nika” she waved her hand jokingly in front of her face “did you hear me? this is YN”

her eyes painfully pulled away from yours, looking at paige in surprise “right! sorry, i think i’m still a bit light headed”

she stood up, walking towards you and extending her hand out to you “very nice to meet you, YN, i didn’t know paige had a sister!”

your throat fell dry as you took her hand, gently shaking it. her touch lingered as her fingers swept against yours “nice to meet you too! yea i’m kind of all over the place and not around much so the team hasn’t seen a lot of me recently”

she eyed you again as you spoke. she tucked loose hairs behind her ear, smirking in a sultry manner.

“i get it, life’s busy” she bit her lip just enough for you to notice “but i’d..um-i’d like to see you around more”

“yea, hopefully i can stick around for a few more games” you joked, trying to hide how flustered you were.

“i’ll count on it” she said, then turned back to paige as she fumbled around in her bag, getting ready to leave “hey i gotta go catch up with a few people, but i’ll see you tomorrow?”

paige nodded, saying her goodbyes for the evening.

“see you around, YN” nika remarked, shoulder brushing against yours slightly as she walked past you, leaning in to whisper to you “and uh, do you think that maybe…maybe i could grab your number from paige or something? only if it’s ok with you”

you nodded your head vigorously, “yea, yes that’s more than ok with me”

she nodded back, flashing those dazzling teeth at you again before rushing across the court. you turned to face paige and saw the contorted look on her face.

“what the hell was that?” she asked.

“nothing” you suppressed a smile “it’s nothing”

that night, after the excitement of the game had worn off and you were back home, you were tucked into bed about to fall asleep. your phone buzzed abruptly, cashing you to roll over and pull it from its charger. your eyes squinted shut from the bright light of the screen.

unknown: hey is this YN? it’s nika :)

you didn’t have to think twice before responding and creating her contact.

you: it is, hi nika <3

nika: sorry to text you so late, paige was…very hesitant about giving me your number lol, but i was hoping i could take you out sometime if you’d want?

you: haha she’s annoying sometimes i’m sorry!

but i would love to you out with you!

nika: great! are you free friday? maybe 6ish?

you: definitely, it’s a date <3

you couldn’t stop smiling as you texted the rest of the night. who would have thought a basketball game would have changed your life completely?

[someverygaymoth]

what would NM’s brother think abt his OSDD, would he be upset he never knew and could’ve been making their life harder, use it against them in battle, or neutral like it doesn’t have anything do do with him anymore. What abt all three, he’s mad at himself for not noticing and making their harder, but the stars are in a rlly bad spot and need any advantage against them, besides the fact him feels disconnected from the years him and NM spent apart. And what does the gang think abt that????

-📖

There are so many ways that this could go and all of them are so interesting!

Dream having no idea until they make a truce, where Nightmare nervously comes clean. Dream is confused at first, "we were only made with one soul... I don't understand." Nightmare gives him some books on the subject, Dream thanks him and does his best to be understanding and promises to look at the books.

He does look at the books and cries for several hours straight when he reads over the causes, which Nightmare neglected to mention during their conversation. Dream's best equation to what's going on is that Nightmare's original soul was broken into pieces. This is a comparison that hurts him severely, but does help him to understand.

Dream ends up reading way way more than the books NM gave him. He feels like he has so much to make up for.

The gang would definitely be a little protective of Nightmare, careful to make sure that Dream is doing what he should to support him, but they back off a little once they see he does.

That's one silly option

Another (which I love) is:

Dream is totally plural too, and just hasn't realized. Which I think is super likely. They're twins, after all, same genetic thresholds, same horrible trauma in two different fonts, that's a recipe for two plural little guys.

Dream talked to Ink about the voices and feeling distant at one point, and massive holes in his memory and ink was like, "Oh dw that's normal, lol" so he never brought it up again, because why would he? It's normal. (Ink is an idiot, and also something is definitely wrong with that freak /aff)

Nightmare talks to dream about it after the truce and Dream is like "wait what? That's possible? That's a thing?"

And NM is sort of apprehensively like... "yeah?"

"I thought everyone heard the voice people!"

"The voice people???"

"Is that not... isn't that normal???"

"No that's not normal. How many do you hear??"

"Uh..." Dream squints a little and starts counting on his fingers.

"D- wait stop. Okay, you hear more than one?"

"Yeah... like three or four i think."

"Dream you're only supposed to hear one, at the most."

"Really?? No, you're playing a trick on me."

"I am not. I'm serious! You can ask anyone!"

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not! Call anyone, right now!"

Dream calls Blue, and they ask Killer, and Horror, and he calls a lust variant he knows— all of them answer the same.

"There's really a word for it?"

"Oh my stars."

"I didn't know!"

"How did you think that was normal!?"

"Ink told me it was!"

"You listened to that IDIOT!?!???"

"hey, that 'idiot' is my friend! ... sort of."

"Brother."

"Okay I see your point. How was I... how were... I don't know how I was supposed to know?"

"You're... you're not, really. I don't blame you. It's not bad."

"It isn't?"

"No."

"What do I do? What did you do?"

"I... we talked to the people that love us."

"Oh."

"We researched... we worked... we... just lived. Mostly."

"That.. doesn't sound too bad."

And the third evil option:

Dream finds out from one of the bad boys, accidentally, and uses it against them. He starts purposefully triggering switches/flashbacks in battle (it's not hard to figure out what'll get him the results when they've gone through the same trauma), doing mean things to get what he needs, just generally being awful.

I don't usually write Dream as such an opportunist as this might make him, but I can definitely see Dream finding out from one of the boys slipping up in battle, looking into it, crying his eyes out, talking to the stars because he doesn't realize it's not his secret to tell... Ink would 100% use this against him if given the opportunity. He knows enough about the things that have hurt Dream to know what'll hurt NM too.

[flickersprout]

hello would you be willing to say your million opinions about the mystery twins?

WHY YES

I am unwell about these people thank you so much for asking /gen (long post incoming)

I'm a little more familiar with Cellbit's character than Bagi's, so probably have more headcanons about him. I am actively trying to get more unhinged about Bagi because she is so cool and everyone should tell me their Bagi headcanons

Bagi headcanons/opinions:

She should be transfem. as a treat. her being transfem lets me make the twins identical, and anything that makes it more obvious how related they are makes them funnier

Her being transfem also adds fun layers to her relationship with Tina, as Tina is a demon pretending to be human. All I'm saying is you could do some fun parallels and contrasts about presentation and the self

Also if you make her and Jaiden and Baghera all transfem, you get the fun fed-sisters-plus transfem solidarity that exists only in my head

She can only barely cook. She never learned as a kid and then got fucking frozen, and she's tried to learn as an adult but it's not going well

When she thinks about raising Empanada, she gets kinda caught between wanting to pass on the pacifist, live-and-let-live mentality that she pretends to have and the more defensive/aggressive ideas she actually has. She does like the idea of pacifism and doesn't want Empanada to grow up bitter, but... peace isn't what's kept her safe and alive

Empanada's first death resolved a lot of those conflicts. A kinder world isn't coming, so she has to raise a fighter

Her "pretending to be an ethical vegetarian" thing is hilarious to me. girl you aren't pretending to be a vegetarian you just are one. you can lie about your reasons but girl. you don't eat meat

Cellbit headcanons/opinions:

He can't cook even a little bit. Federation pet -> child soldier -> jail-> struggling adult? yeah he never fucking learned to cook

Relatedly I think he's a picky eater but has weird tastes. Like i think he eats instant microwave/just add water foods raw and likes it because he learned to eat it like that at some point, but can't stand a lot of "real food" because he just never got used to it (this is partly based on me lsjkhd)

He owns a butterfly knife and he's good with it. He picked it up as a hobby after Fuga when he was in therapy because he needed something to fill his time and it was a socially acceptable way to carry a knife. He can do all kinds of tricks now

Just pre-purgatory (and probably still now tbh) sometimes the butterfly knife suddenly reminds him too much of a real knife or triggers some kind of intrusive thought that scares him. His reaction to this is to just let go of the knife midair. He's very lucky no one's gotten hurt yet

He 100% remembers more of his childhood with Bagi than he admits. He pretends he doesn't because even acknowledging that he was a child once undermines his image of himself as a monster (upsetting, unhealthy self-image, sure, but one that's kept him safe. monsters aren't afraid of anything. monsters can't be hurt. children, though?)

As much as I understand and will read about autistic!Cellbit headcanons, I don't agree (i am autistic, for the record). He's actually really good with social cues, like scary good, and obviously has really strong theory of mind. Like I get where people are coming from but we need to defend an allistic guy's right to just be a fucking freak (/lh /nm)

I want to call Cellbit and Baghera "hunters" instead of "chainsaw killers." again I get where people are coming from. it's funny and I'll use it. however hunters would go so hard. same genre as codebreakers and bloodhounds. do you see my vision

[nellie-elizabeth]

tagged by @awildwickedslip, thank you!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

103.

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

1,825,148

3. What fandoms do you write for?

magicians and roswell, new mexico primarily! Also wrote a good omens fic recently but that might be a one and done for now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

tales from a bookshop (good omens post season 2, fairly sure I'll never write anything this popular ever again because holy shit)

Lover's Touch - Queliot fic!

Promises - Queliot fic!

Maybe This Time - Queliot fic!

Fragments - Queliot fic!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I didn't used to in my earlier fandom days but now I'm pretty consistent about it.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I once wrote a major character death fic for Queer as Folk where Justin died. Not really my style anymore. Back in my ff.net days I also wrote Merthur major character death fic, I'm just remembering.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I always try and do happily ever afters! A lot of my stories end with a sense of "and then they continue on their adventures, and life isn't always simple or easy", so in terms of the most pure, joyful ending? I guess I'll go living proof, which is the end of my episode series for Roswell, NM, which is just a "now they're married and happy forever" fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have before, but not as a rule. Once got called an abuse apologist & incest support (oh the horror /s) for exploring the canonical close friendship (not even a romantic relationship!) between two dudes from Shadowhunters lmao. And there's a troll in the Roswell fandom who writes hilarious and idiotic unhinged rants and I've been hit by her before, but she's got a scatter-shot approach and attacks a lot of people, so, at least I know it's nothing personal.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yep! What is meant by "what kind" here? lol. I'm pretty vanilla. Mostly m/m, but I usually don't pass over the chance for m/m/f. I actually recently wrote my very first m/f full-on sex scene ever for a little Magicians snippet, Kady/Penny lol.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No, I don't wrote crossovers in the sense that characters from various worlds don't meet each other in my fics. HOWEVER, two of my favorite things I've ever written have been Magicians AUs that crossed over the characters from that show with the full plot from other films. One is The Old Guard (A Comet Pulled From Orbit), and one is When Harry Met Sally (When Quentin Met Eliot).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, a few times! Used to happen a lot back with old ff.net stuff, and I recently had my good omens fic translated.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I'm co-writing a series right now! First time I've ever done it and it's a blast.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

uhhhhh don't make me choose? lmao. In terms of fandom engagement and longevity I guess Queliot at this point. But in terms of... the ships that made me discover and appreciate and explore fandom in the first place? Kirk/Spock and Brian/Justin. Classics.

16. What are your writing strengths?

dialogue and tone setting, I think?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

plot details (I get bored and distracted mapping things out)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

tbh I usually wince when I see it in fic? I'm not a fan. It always feels a little silly. Maybe very very sparingly if there's like a singular phrase or term of endearment or something but I'd rather just indicate that someone is speaking another language rather than write it out. I feel like it can often be tokenizing if you just have one character who's bilingual and you give them little one-liners in a different language. Idk. If the author is bilingual and doing a thing, then that's awesome. But I can usually tell when someone's just using google translate for stuff lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Gilmore Girls!

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm gonna cheat and name one each for my two big fandoms. Also idk if these are my favorites but they're two I really love that aren't my most popular:

Regrets, or the Absence Thereof (Magicians)

all the roads that lead you there (Roswell)

tagging @portraitofemmy @spiders-hth-is-an-outlier @orchardsinsnow @r-dtoblack and YOU if you're reading this and want to play!

[wilt3d-r0zes]

Apparently I’m on an agere Teen Wolf kick uhh but here’s another fic for it haha

Keyring Rattles

Stiles regresses in class and freaks out, his understimulated little brain locks onto the idea of getting Lydia's keys and won't settle until he's rattling them.

or, I started another drabble and accidentally made a 1k ish fic (chapter 2 is very OOC and from the perspective of Lydia & Scott instead of Stiles, it's separated bc I don't like it as much)

Warning: This fic contains Age Regression, a non-sexual coping mechanism! 

(Little!Stiles, CG!Scott. Lydia is also there as sorta a side character, so hc her however you want. This has no romantic interactions at all!)  (Autistic!Stiles also bc i cant have a favorite character and make them NT) (Please note that the semi-joke at the very end about “pulling the autism card” is something I have said in real life, and if it makes you uncomfortable that is a personal preference and doesn’t apply to everybody /nm /lh)

Stiles doesn't like English on a good day.

He hates it on a bad day.

And would rather throw a tantrum in front of the entire class on a little day.

It's why Scott is actively leading him out of the classroom and towards That Locker Room that they always go toward when he has some level of freak out in school. He's trying to calm his little down on the walk, but Stiles is entirely inconsolable.

Snot and tears are practically coating his face, he got taken out of the classroom before it got too bad (He saw Stiles start crying and made an excuse to get them both out of there, thank god), but he’s about one wrong move away from a full-blown meltdown.

Meltdowns for Stiles are bad enough when he's big, when little? Not something you want to do around other people. Especially anybody who isn't your caregiver.

The locker room is a familiar sight, and despite the smell that assaults his nose he's relieved to know he's away from other people. Of course, that also means that once the door is shut and Scott has set him down leaning against one of the chain walls he's getting loud. Broken, cracking sobs and squirming limbs. 

The chain wall rattled loudly when he smacked his head against it, Scott is still talking to him, trying to get him to calm down. His tone sounds a bit more frantic now, but Stiles can't understand any of the words through his racing thoughts.

His hand latches onto the links, yanking on the wall and rattling it so it echoes around in the room. It's a good sound, like a more aggressive key ring.

That's what he wants!

He wants a key ring. More specifically he wants Lydia’s, because she has a lot of keys and trinkets and it makes a nice noise. He whines, yanking on the chains again, “Lydi,” he shouts it, even though he just meant to say it to Scott because doing anything quiet might drive him entirely off the deep end.

“Lydia?” Scott echoes, but whatever he says next is lost on a much too little Stiles (He hates this, he hates when his regression gets so deep he struggles to process English unless he's focusing on it completely. It's terrifying)

“Wan’ Lydi!” 

He can hear Scott’s phone ringing. He yanks on the fence again, giggling at the sound. It rattles around his skull in such a pleasant way, he yanks again. It echoes around the locker room, hitting every wall and the other chain fences, and then falls back on him.

Scott's talking to Lydia, he can tell. She better be coming over, he wants her keys! 

(He doesn't think about how he doesn't want her to see him flapping one hand, covered in tears and snot with his legs curled up against his chest and the other hand yanking on the chain fence. Doesn't want her to see him a total mess because all he wants are her keys)

Sure enough, a couple minutes more of Stiles rattling the chains and finding anything he can to keep his other hand occupied (Including but not limited to flapping and hitting, which Scott attempted to stop if his raise in volume meant anything) and the telltale click-clack of Lydia’s heels approached the door.

Hopefully, at least, it could always just be a teacher. It's not though, and soon Lydia is crouched down on his other side and is talking with Scott. Stiles reaches his free hand toward her.

“Keys!” he more-or-less demands, yanking on the chains again. His wide eyes lock on her pink, long-strapped purse where the jingle jangles are certainly hiding from him.

“Keys?” Lydia echoes, looking over him towards Scott. One hand is slowly venturing towards her purse, so Stiles whines and makes a grabby motion towards it to make her speed up, “Why do you want my keys, Stiles?”

Stiles pouts at her, slumping when she doesn't give him what he wants right away, “Jingly.”

Lydia smiles, then chuckles, finally retrieving the jingle jangles and setting them in his hand. He sits up and squeals, letting go of the chain to hold the keys by the hook and shake them. Shake, shake, shake! 

He giggles and starts rocking, moving his legs so he's crisscrossed and happily shaking the keys. Occasionally he brings it up to his ear and rattles it, but every time Scott brings his hand away so he doesn't damage his hearing.

Super mean, but if it makes bubba upset then he'll keep the keys away from his ears!

…

“What happened?” Lydia asks once Stiles is enthralled in her keyring, clearly not paying attention to either of them.

Scott sighs, running his hands down his face tiredly, “I don't know, we were in English and I caught the scent of his emotions. When I looked up he was crying, so I brought him here.”

“Did he just regress in class and freak out?” she frowns at him, looking back toward the human. 

“I guess?” Scott says. Lydia focuses more on how dirty Stiles is, pulling out a handkerchief from her bag to try and wipe his face off. That's surely going to dry and become an all-around horrible sensory experience, especially for an already upset little, “Hey, keep those away from your ears, bud,” Scott reaches up to pull the keys away from where Stiles was shaking them right beside his ear.

The little whimpers in response to both his face being wiped and Scott moving his hand, but when he lets go and he's allowed to rattle the keys again he calms down.

“Blow, sweetheart,” Lydia encourages, holding the handkerchief to his nose. He complies, so she pulls it away and wraps it up to safely store it in its own, separate pocket in her purse to be washed later.   “Alright, how are we getting him out of here?”

Scott gives her a weird look, “What do you mean?”

“We can't just bring him out the front door, someone will question while he's shaking a set of keys and leaning on one of us, or call his dad,” she reminds.

“We can just pull the autism card,” Scott shrugs, “We do it all the time, it's an easy way to get out of class if something happens.”

“...I feel like that’s not okay?”

“His idea, not mine,” Scott holds his hands up in defense, “If you want to try and get him out the window or something, be my guest, I’m just saying what’d be easiest.”

Lydia sighs and looks around the room for any windows. Most of the windows in their school aren’t the kind you can just pop open and hop through, unfortunately, so she’d either have to go through mental gymnastics trying to unlock them or break a screen. Or both.

Fine, pulling the autism card it is. Even when she double-checks, Scott promises that it’s Stiles’s idea to pull it when they’re in a sticky situation.

[t0t4lly-n0t-z4hw4]

A hero is having a crush on me? Nah man, a VILLAIN is having a crush on me.

Paddle Pop Reader X Shadow Master Oneshot Fluff.

This fic is requested by @ry-ichi1 through a Paddle Pop Fans Whatsapp group. And also requested by @artist-anon08 VIA Tumblr. This is kinda rushed, & i had NO ideas at all- So i tried my best to think of an idea, & i came up with the idea of Shadow Master having a crush on Female!Reader- Listen, i ran out of ideas ok!? And there's 2 friggin' ppl requesting the same thing- /NM Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this fic! :3 <3

Summary : YOU were recruited to be Shadow Master's apprentice. The 2nd day, Shadow Master invited you to meet up with him. He prepared a strawberry shortcake for you, and a cup of tea for himself. After a few days being Shadow Master's apprentice, you noticed something a bit wrong here. Shadow Master treats other servants & apprentices a little bit harshly, but with you? He acts so sweet to you! He's like a gentleman with you! But one day, Shadow Master gave you a BEAUTIFUL black & purple dress, and a letter saying for you to go to a certain place. Once you got there...

Character(s) : Shadow Master, Female!Apprentice!Y/N.

Ship : Shadow Master X Female!Apprentice!Y/N (SFW ROMANCE)

TW : A bit of romance(?), dating(?), incorrect/wrong spelling, typos, short fic ;-;

It was your 2nd day to be Shadow Master's apprentice. You & Shadow Master were sitting in 2 seperate chairs facing eachother, with a table between you 2, & a flower pot with 3 black roses in the pot. You were eating a piece of strawberry shortcake, meanwhile Shadow Master were sipping on a cup of tea. Shadow Master often invites you to do something like this(Shadow Master did NOT want to call this a 'date').

"Master, do you anything i need to do for you today?" You asked, starting a conversation.

"Hm?" Shadow Master replied, still sipping on his cup of tea. "Well, not for now" Shadow Master said, "But, i do have something planned for later" Shadow Master continued.

"Alright master" You replied. "By the way, thank you for the cake, master" You said.

"You're welcome, Y/N" Shadow Master replied.

You and Shadow Master chatted for a little before you finish your food.

After you finished the food, "It was really lovely to hang out with you, Y/N" Shadow Master said, politely.

"It was a a delight to meet you too, master" You replied.

Shadow Master nodded, "Ah... Y/N, do you mind if we keep on doing this?" Shadow Master aksed, stuttering a bit.

Your eyes widened a bit. Do this again? What? "Ah... Sure, master. Anything for you" You said.

"Thank you, Y/N. I'll see you again later" Shadow Master walked off.

"Bye, master" You waved at him.

Do this again? Why would he want to do this again?

The next day...

You walked in a hall, and saw saw Shadow Master with another aporentice of his, yelling at him for doing a bad job.

You saw him doing it ALOT of times to ALOT of his apprentices, servants & others.

You saw him do this for milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, MONTHS, AND YEARS ALREADY!!

But then it hit you.

'Wait, if Shadow Master treated his servants harshly..." You thought, 'But then...Why did he didn't treat me harshly instead of inviting to eat some cake?' You continued.

It's a bit weird that Shadow Master often ask you to do that. Either way; You didn't complain about it anyways-

Then, "Y/N, do you have some time?" Shadow Master asked.

"Oh! Ah... Yes, i have some spare time" You replied, a bit shocked that Shadow Master was in your sight outta no where-

"Good. What would you like to eat tonight?" Shadow Master asked gently.

"Ah... Can i have a chocolate lava cake, please?" You answered with another question.

"Alright. And what drink would like to have?" Shadow Master asked again.

"A jasmine tea, please" You replied again.

Shadow Master nodded, then said "Thank you, Y/N. I'll meet you at the Shadow Sakura Garden".

"See you later, Y/N" Shadow Master waved, turning around then walked to his throne room.

"I'll see you later too, master!" You waved back at him.

Hmm... Another 'Hang-out'. This is really strange. And to think about it, it's really strange that YOU were the only one treated this way by Shadow Master. And one more thing you realized; You're the only FEMALE apprentice that Shadow Master himself considered special apprentice.

You decided that you've had enough of thinking about it for YEARS already. So you just got your room, and read a book instead.

You've read for hours untill evening. But later...

*knock, knock, knock

"Ah? C- come in!" You said, as you heard the knocking sounds coming from the door of your room.

"Y/N, Shadow Master sent you this" One of Shadow Master's servants came into your room, with a black box tied with a purple robbin, and a letter.

You stood up, walked towards him, and retrieved the box & letter. "Thank you" You said as you retreived them.

"You're welcome" The servant said, leaving your room, & closing the door behind him.

You sat down to your bed, put the box ontop of your bed, then you grabbed the letter.

It look rather cute. Kinda looked like a love letter. It has a little pink flower along with a pink heart-shaped wax stamp.

You admired the appearance of the letter from the back, to the front. It...looks amazing. Then you opened the letter.

Dear Y/N,

I would like to meet you at the Shadow Sakura Garden tonight. We will attend our dinner there.

However, like usual; NOONE but US will be the only one there. I told the others that they will attend their dinner in my lair, and i told them that we will be away for a bit.

And...there's also something i need to talk about with only you.

I hope we could meet up at the Shadow Sakura Garden, for our dinner tonight.

Sincerely, ~Shadow Master.

Ps. I've sent a gift for you. I hope you could wear that during our dinner for tonight. And after our dinner, i have something to talk about & something else for you. All of those gifts are all yours to have.

You got curious & confused as you read the 3rd paragraph. 'What is he going to talk about?' You asked in curiosity & confusion.

You closed the letter, putting it down on your desk, and turned to grab the box.

You untied the purple ribbon, then opened the black box.

You were shocked of what's in it! It was a gorgeous black & purple dress! It was beautiful!

After admiring it's appearance, you wore the dress. You spun around in the dress infront of a large standing mirror.

After all of that admirance, you got to the location Shadow Master told you to go, The Shadow Sakura Garden.

You got out of your room, close the door behind you, got out of the lair, close the lair's gates, then walked off to the garden.

It was a beautiful night. With the full moon up in the sky, soo many stars, clear skies, it's beautiful!

As you walked trough the garden's gates, you were in awe of Shadow Master's appearance!

He's in a black suit, a purple bow tie around his neck, a handkerchief purple in his pocket, and white gloves.

Shadow Master fixed his bow tie while looking away, seeming to...BLUSH A BIT!?

"Shall we...start our dinner, my lady?" Shadow Master asked, reaching his hand out to tak your hand.

'MY LADY!? DID HE-' You thought in disbelief. Did he called you his lady!? Wow. Just WOW.

But instead of acting weird, you took his hand and said "Sure, master" as calmly as you possibly could be.

Both of you sat down, and eat your dinners.

"What are you going talk about, master?" You asked.

"Hm, we-" Shadow Master's words were cut off with the sound of the bushes shaking.

You got scared of the shaking, Shadow Master stood up with a serious face. But once the bush stopped shaking.

A little white bunny came out of the bushes!

"Aww! A bunny!" You smiled, as you walked towards the bunny then picked it up.

"Do you like bunnies, Y/N?" Shadow Master asked, looking at the bunny.

"Yess!" You replied in happiness.

Shadow Master looked at you, then said "You could keep the bunny if you want".

"But, master, i don't have the cage for the bunny" You said, "And i don't have some bunny foods & supplies too" You continued.

Shadow Master smiled, then said "I could provide bunny supplies & foods for you".

You lightly gasped, then said "Y- you don't have too, master. I coul-" Your wird were cut off with Shadow Master saying "I insist, dear. After all, i would do anything just for you".

With that, Shadow Master worked his magic by creating a bunny cage, picked up the bunny then putting it into the cage. He also 'created' an actual carrot, gave it to the bunny, then closing the cage.

Shadow Master turned to you then said "Here you go, Y/N. A bunny just for you".

You smiled, then said "Thank you so much, master".

"You're welcome, Y/N" Shadow Master said, "Now, let's sit down and talk for a bit".

You nodded, then sat down with him.

You continued ro eat with him.

"So Y/N, is there any other animals you like besides bunnies?" Shadow Master asked.

"Well, i like cats, eagles, sharks, lions, an chameleons!" You replied. "Though, i don't think keeping eagles, sharks, & lions is a good idea"

"What about you, master? What is your favorite animal?" You asked.

"Hmm... To be honest, i don't realky think i have a favorite animal. But, i am a bit interested in lizards" Shadow Master answered.

"Well, what animal is it? Crocodiles? Alligators? Chameleons? Igua-"

"-Komodo dragons to be specific"

You blinked for a few times. Komodo dragons? That was...an unexpected answer.

"I know it's a bit weird" Shadow Master looked down.

"Don't worry, master! To be honest aswell, i'm also a bit interested in komodo dragons" You said.

"Actually, there's also another i'd like to tell you" Shadow Master said.

"What is it, master?" You said.

"I have a komodo dragon as a pet" Shadow Master blurted out quickly.

You blinked for a few times, then asked "Is... Is that what you wanted to tell me? Like you wrote in the letter?".

"No. This is just something random i want you to know" Shadow Master said.

"But master, komodo dragons are dangerous-" You said, a bit worried.

"Don't worry, Y/N. It's a small komodo dragon" Shadow Master said, calmly.

"Alright then" You said.

Shadow Master looked over his plate, then looked over his cup. Then he drinked the last bits of tea in his cup, then asked "Have you finished your food and drink, Y/N?"

"Yes, i have finished them" You said, wiping your mouth with a peice of tissue. (Where da heck did u even get a tissue fro-)

"Good, now can you come with me?" Shadow Master asked, stood up, and reaching his hand out to take your hand.

You smiled, stood up, took his hand then followed him.

He led you to a a beautiful flowering gazebo.

"Y/N, there's something i need to tell you" Shadow Master said, shyly.

You tilted your head, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. You gasped as Shadow Master handed you a black & purple rose bouquet, then said "I have been keeping this a secret eversince you became my apprentice for the first time. I fell inlove with you, at first sight. I... Have a crush on you, Y/N". Now, Shadow Master's blush became more and more visible.

You blushed aswell. Then you retrieved the bouquet.

'This... This is really unexpected' You thought.

Then, Shadow Master took out a purple diamond ring, handing to to Y/N then asked "Will... You be my girlfriend, Y/N?".

This. Is. Unexpected. You couldn't believe it! A villain proposing to YOU!? You're just his apprentice! Why wou-

"Yes, i will!" You answered, hugging him.

Though, you had to admit it. Shadow Master was kindof a husband material-

Shadow Master took your hand, then put the ring on your finger.

The diamond of the ring is heart-shaped, on both sides of the diamond was a white wings-shaped crystals. The ring were so shiny. Even during the nighttime! It was really beautiful.

"Thank you, master" You said.

"No, no, no. I'm the one who's suppose to be thanking you, love. Thank you, Y/N" Shadow Master said.

You smiled at him. How an evil villain could possibly be so lovely, and such a gentleman. AND HOW COULD YOU DATE AN EVIL VILLAIN!?

"Now, care to dance with me, my lady?" Shadow Master asked, reaching his hand out.

You took Shadow Master's hand, then said "I'd love to, dear".

He kissed your hand, then danced with you.

You spun around each other, and startes waltzing. You loved this moment. This is the moment you two would ALWAYS gonna treasure.

You really enjoyed this moment.

Shadow Master could finally be with the one he loved. He'd never thought he'd never experienced love. But eversince Y/N came, that though of his changed forever.

You two hoped that your relationship will never end. Even if you two got into arguments.

But at the end of the day, they are there for eachother. No matter what.

~Fin

Bonus : You & Shadow Master after that moment :

You & Shadow Master hold hands together, walking back to the lair after having such a delightful moment.

"I had so much fun with you, Master. Thank you" You smiled.

"I had fun too, Y/N. Thank you" Shadow Master replied.

"Oh, and by the way; Tomorrow i will introduce you to my komodo dragon pet" Shadow Master said.

"Alright, master." You said.

You continued to walk a bit. But then...

"Wait!" You said, suddenly stop walking. "I feel like... I forgot about something..." You continued, thinking.

"What is it, Y/N?" Shadow Master asked, stopped walking as soon as you stopped walking too.

You thinked hard, but it hit you.

"Wait..."

"MY PET BUNNYY!!!" You screamed as you turned around, and ran back to where you had the date with Shadow Master.

"Wait, your BUNNY!?" Shadow Master said, now realizing as soon as you screamed, "WAIT FOR ME!!" Shadow Master screamed aswell, catching after you.

After you grabbed the cage with your new pet bunny, you walk back to Shadow Master, then continued walking back to the lair.

Tomorrow...

"I want you to meet Scales! My komodo dragon pet" Shadow Master inteoduced you to his komodo dragon pet.

You looked at that lizard as if it k1lled your boyfriend. (No, it didn't happen!)

"... Master..." You said. "I... Thought you said that you had a small komodo dragon..." You continued.

"It is a small komodo dragon. What are you talking about?" Shadow Master asked, looking confused.

"Are you aware that this is the biggest komodo dragon species?" You said, informing your boyfriend.

"Wait, really!?" Shadow Master asked, looking a bit shocked. "I just got this guy a few days before i proposed to you. And the one who sold this komodo to me said that this is the smallest komodo he had. He also had alot of komodos that are alot more bigger than the one i currently had right now" Shadow Master told you.

"THE SELLER HAD WHAT!?"

~Fin

Actual Fin this time-

Phew! What a fic! Hope y'all enjoy it! Cya later! <33

AZ Out.

[dhampiravidi]

She never thought she'd find herself being grateful for a Sith's presence, but considering the circumstances, Jayn truly was glad that the man from her worst day had shown his face again. Huh. Once again, I owe him. It wasn't like she'd agree to help him with anything that would go against the Republic or any of her values, yet it seemed strange to accept someone's sacrifice without giving them her thanks. Though he was clearly very capable when it came to defending himself, there was no real reason for him to help those kids. He was not a peace officer of Ravka, the Jedi, or any other group. He'd sworn no oath to protect the innocent.

What if it's a trap?

The thought shook her & Jayn nearly stumbled. He'd never stated his intentions regarding the children & their fight had never actually come to a conclusion; it'd been interrupted by the gangsters. It was entirely possible that, once they were far enough from the emptied hideout, the Sith would attempt to kidnap the children, just after he attacked Jayn from behind.

"N-nm...I'm tired," one of the little boys whimpered, breaking the Jedi's heart into pieces. She knew that if she turned around, she might do something unbecoming of her position--something that would've jeopardized the mission. So instead, she continued on, trusting her memory of the police station & the Sith behind her all the way.

Finally, the station was before them, guarded by a regular number of Grisha & others. Jayn recognized a few of the townspeople, as the parents of the kids she'd recovered. She watched with a soft smile as they welcomed their little ones back, teary & beaming. The Jedi merely nodded to those who saw her in the shadows, then drew back a bit. "You had dark brown eyes on Fjerda. What changed?" she asked the Sith, hoping he would give more answers than the bare minimum. "& thank you for your assistance. I can pay you with the stipend I was provided..."

[cupcraft]

i remember seeing so many threats sent to people because they reblogged a bad post or from a bad person without knowing and i had received some and got very frightened from reblogging anything that wasn’t a shit post for a long time. i’ve also used it as a way to show mutuals that i’ve seen their posts even when i was in this phase. i’ve been able to get over it, i reblog way too much stuff probably, both on main and sideblogs, but as someone who also makes stuff, i’m not popular and don’t have an interest to be with most not getting over 10 notes, i feel better seeing that someone “liked” something of mine, though reblogging feels nicer, than feeling that no one enjoyed my work at all.

reblogging helps lots of creators and is what keeps the tumblr ecosystem healthy for a lack of a better term. but ultimately however anyone decides to experience their part of the internet is entirely their choice, and if that doesn’t include reblogging, despite it being a core function, that’s not anyone else’s say in the matter. the only thing i can think that anyone can do to stop that, if there’s setting for it i don’t think there is, is to turn off likes and keep on reblogs for posts in an attempt to force that kind of activity. which to be frank im pretty sure would actually decrease that desired activity though you wouldn’t see any “only liked”s anymore. like if i saw that i would personally start avoiding those posts because they’d feel guilt trippy and passive aggressive like how a lot of blogs who are used to twitter interactive levels do when they actively get mad for that sort of activity. it doesn’t feel good interacting with them, and this is coming from someone that reblogs a good 70% of what shows up on my dash or suggested. i want to enjoy the content i reblog and like whatever, not attemptedly guilt tripped into interacting with it in a specific way or not at all.

there are a lot of thoughts here but i do want to thank you for sending the ask bc i did open the discussion. But i kinda look at it another way ig as an artist and as someone who has a lot of artist moots.

Like people are not trying to guilt trip ppl to reblog stuff. People are frustrated that no one wants to share their art they put a lot of effort and time in. and its not because "ratios matter" for a clout reason or something its because the only way art gets shared on tumblr is through reblogs (well this applies to anything but esp art). And as artist a like can feel like your art isnt good enough to be shared.

In the end youre right that some ppl may never rb art. I personally just try to ignore it but ik some ppl may block for that too. Because it does hurt from the artists side. And people's increasing frustration is a reflection of that i think.

[holdmytesseract]

Found

Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Summary: After the fight with Daryl, you ran away. The archer feels guilty and decides to look for you. The problem? You can't be found... Neither in Alexandria, nor in the Kingdom - what leaves him in utter worry...

Warnings: the usual TWD stuff, angst, injuries, Leah being a pain in the ass, lots of fluff and Daryl being protective!

Set in Season 9 - not 10, lol...

Word Count: 4k - whoops...

a/n: Part 2 to 'Lost' is finally here! 😁 Thanks for being so hyped about this! ☺️ I had a lot of fun writing part 2 and I mean... I clearly couldn't just leave it like that, right? Daryl needs to get his girl back, right? 😁 I really hope y'all like it!

Tagging: @in-this-minute @thefemininemystiquee @hotgirlsshareaccounts @azanoni @lokisgoodgirl @goobysgoobers @fuseburner @bymailin @hr-nm-grnd-zr

If you want to be added to my Daryl taglist, let me know!

MASTERLIST

He heard the blood rush into his ears, felt the pain in his chest, as he watched her ride away. Out of his sight - out of his life. Daryl wanted to run after her and find the right words to make it all alright again, but his feet were like glued to the ground. He couldn't move. All he could do, was stare after the woman he loved and blame himself for being such a stupid idiot.

"Who is that?" The familiar voice of Leah urged suddenly to his ears. Only now did he recognise, that she had walked over to him and was standing now directly beside him. "Daryl, who is that?" Leah repeated her question. The archer sighed, felt the stinging tears in his eyes. "Y-Y/N." "No." He heard her say, as she stepped in front of him with crossed arms, blocking his view. "Who is she?" Of course knew Daryl what she meant, but the last thing he wanted was to discuss that with her now. "My friend." Leah shook her head. "Oh come on... You can't fool me. She wasn't just a friend. You said you love her. Do you say that to every friend?" Daryl shook his head, "I don't wanna talk 'bout that with ya." and tried to walk past Leah. He had to find you. But she didn't let him. She stood in his way, stopping him. "No, you're not just walking out of this!" Daryl tried it again, but once more Leah stopped him and placed both her hands on his chest in an attempt to push him back - what barely worked. "Tell me! Who is that woman?! Is she your girlfriend?!" The collision was inevitable now. The man was aware of that. "Yes, she is." Leah scoffed, looking at him incredulously - almost offended at his words. "Your girlfriend?" Slowly, but surely, Daryl began to lose his temper at the petulant behaviour of Leah. "Yeah. Got a problem with that?" Another scoff. "Isn't that obvious, Daryl?! Yes, yes, I do have a problem with that?!" "Why?!" "Because I thought you and I were a thing?!" His brows furrowed in disbelief. "What?! No! We ain't somethin'!" The woman's jaw dropped. "You call this nothing, but what you have with that poor excuse of a woman is something?! Are you shitting me?!" The archer shook his head, offended by his so-called friend's words. "Nah. That 'poor excuse of a woman' means everything ta me. I love 'er and I certainly ain't goin' to lose 'er, 'cause of you!" With those words he quickly grabbed his crossbow, slung it over his shoulder and passed the angered woman by. He had to find you. That was all that mattered now. "Fine! Fuck off! Just know that I won't give up without a fight!" Daryl ignored her. He didn't give a shit about that now. He had way more important things to do...

First off, he got his bike. Pulling away all the branches, leaves and undergrowth he had disguised it with, to free the vehicle from its hiding spot. He quickly checked on it, made sure that everything was working, before he swung himself on it and quickly followed your traces. Unfortunately, he lost them after a while. There were just too many hoof prints. He was a very good tracker, but keeping different hoof prints apart was even for him a difficult task. Cursing under his breath, he decided to go to Alexandria first; search there. It was your home, after all, so the chances were high that you possibly went there. Turning his bike around on the slightly muddy path, he drove to Alexandria.

It had been a while, since he lastly set foot behind those high steel walls. Weeks. Months. Nevertheless, he felt immediately welcomed by its people - despite the long time he's been away. Daryl passed by a lot of familiar face, who greeted him and gave him a smile. Rosita, Aaron, Siddiq, Gabriel - yes, even Eugene. But the happiest greeting he received, came from a whole different person... "Daryl!" He had been just on the way to your house, when a soft, delicate voice called out his name. Of course, he knew exactly to whom the voice belong to, so he stopped in his tracks and turned around. Despite all the troubled feelings coursing through his system, he couldn't help but to smile softly, when a little girl with a hat came running his way. "Daryl!" She exclaimed happily once again, and before he could even blink, she was wrapped up in his arms for a hug. "Hey kid." He said, in a low gruff voice. "Ya alright?" The little girl nodded, before she stepped back from the hug, still smiling brightly. "You too?" He just gave her a nod, even though he was everything but alright. "You're back!" Another nod. "Only for now. 'M lookin' for Y/N. Do ya know where she is? She here?" Just as Judith wanted to answer, another voice cut through the air. "She isn't here. She left three days ago, headed for the Kingdom to help them." Michonne. Daryl looked up, straight in the face of his friend, who now began to smile. "Hey. Great to see you." The archer straightened up, "Yeah, likewise..." and gave her a nod as well. "Y/N ain't 'ere?" Michonne shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. If you want to see her, you have to go to the Kingdom." "Alright, thanks." Daryl turned on his heels and wanted to leave, when his friend stopped him. "Why don't you stay a while? Get some rest and food." "Nah, ain't stayin'. I can't." He just said and walked away, before Michonne or even Judith were able to say something again. Swinging himself back on his bike, he left Alexandria and headed as fast as his motorcycle could go to the Kingdom.

The gates of the Kingdom got opened for him as well, of course. It may have been a long time since he was in Alexandria, but it was an even longer time since he had lastly visited the Kingdom. He got greeted warmly nevertheless. Word spread at lightning speed that the archer was here, so it was no wonder when he was soon face to face with his best friend. "Oh, hello stranger." Carol greeted him with a smile, arms crossed over her chest. "What are you doing here, huh?" Daryl got off of his bike. "Searchin' for Y/N... She here?" The woman with white-grey hair frowned, "Y/N? No." and shook her head. "She's not with you? She wanted to go to you; left the Kingdom this morning." Fuck. Daryl groaned in frustration and cursed himself now even more for letting you just ride away. Now you were lost - and it was his fault. His mind started to spin wildly. What if something happened to you? What if you were hurt? Got attacked? Or God forbid... Bitten by a walker? Worry took over his mind - something what Carol seemed to notice straight away. "Okay, what happened?" Daryl chewed on his bottom lip, shaking his head. "Was an idiot... Messed everythin' up." Carol looked at her best friend critically, quirking her eyebrows, while crossing her arms over her chest once again. "You messed up?" The archer swallowed, nodding. "Big time." "What did you do, Daryl?" "Remember when I told ya about that woman? Leah?" "Your friend?" Once more he shook his head. "She ain't a friend. Wouldn't call 'er that. More like acquaintances." Carol thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, right. I can remember her. What about her?" "Well..." Daryl started, fumbling nervously with his hands. "Y/N saw me 'n her together, sittin' at the river, talkin'... Leah, uh, kissed ma cheek 'n now Y/N's thinkin' I cheated on her - which I never would. Ya know me!" The archer huffed out frustrated, lowering his head, which caused some brown strands of shaggy hair to fall in his face. "I tried to explain 'er, that Leah and I are jus' friends, but... She ain't listened ta me." Carol shook her head. "I told you to be careful with that woman. Why did you let her get this close to you? Didn't you see that she is more than just in a friendly way interested in you?" Now it was Daryl's turn to shake his head and helplessly shrug his shoulders. "No, I... I thought she jus' wanted some company, 'cause she's alone too..." His best friend sighed. "You really are an idiot sometimes... And blind..." "Tell me somethin' new..." He said in a sad tone, lifting his head once again, before he turned to walk away. "Gotta go, keep on lookin' for 'er." Carol nodded and reached for her bow and arrows. "I'll come with you." "No. Stay here. In case Y/N comes back." The woman sighed, but agreed. "Alright. Take care, yes?" Daryl nodded and swung himself on his bike. "Always do." "I know, but you are not in your right mind at the moment." Daryl just looked at his best friend for a moment, before he started the vehicle and quickly drove passed the steel doors, leaving the Kingdom behind himself.

The archer had no other choice now, than to somehow try to track you down and search every nook and cranny of the area. He just had to find you - even if you probably didn't want to be found by him. Just to make sure that you were safe. It was his top priority. Keeping you safe and making sure you were alright - and now he realised, that he didn't make sure of that all those past months and years. He trusted the safety of Alexandria's walls, instead of doing it himself. He should've taken you with him. On this way he would've never needed to fear for your life right now. He would've never lost you. If something happened to you know, it was going to be his fault - and he would need to live with this for the rest of his life. Something he clearly never could. Yes, he had to find you - as fast as somehow possible.

With the clock ticking; minutes turning into hours, Daryl got more and more worried. He followed a trace already a few times, always thinking it could be yours, but it always led him to something different, or it came to nothing and was just a dead end. Well... The wood was big and the possibilities almost endless. You could be everywhere and nowhere.

Another hour - maybe even hours (Daryl couldn't tell.) passed. The archer had got rid of his bike a long time ago, hiding it in the thicket and kept on searching on foot. He thought that this was probably the better option.

The sun hung low in the sky by now, telling the man that it would get dark soon. There was only an hour, probably two left he could search in daylight. He was still looking up in the cloudy sky, when a noise suddenly caught his attention. A noise, which sounded like the neigh of a horse. Looking around and checking his surroundings, Daryl quickly followed the sounds - and indeed found a stray horse... A saddled stray horse. Your horse - but you weren't with the majestic animal... The horse was in a complete tizzy; clearly afraid and in panic. Daryl could tell. He approached the animal slowly, hands raised as if to signal the stallion, that he wasn't a threat. "Hey... I ain't gonna hurt ya, okay?" He made another few steps, getting closer. "I promise..." When Daryl had reached the troubled horse, he touched the ridge of his nose, in order to calm the frightened animal down. The stallion's nostrils flared. Daryl could feel his warm, ragged breath against his arm - but minutes later after speaking quietly to him and petting him gently, your horse seemed to calm down. "Yeah, that's it. Good boy." The archer moved his hand, petted his neck. "Where's Y/N, huh?" He was very worried by now. You wouldn't just send your horse away. That was very unlike you. His mind raced a mile per hour; dozens of possibilities running through his head what could've happened to you. Maybe the stallion was afraid of something and unseated you? In that case you were more than likely injured - and with that, easy prey for the walkers. Daryl shook quickly his head. No... He couldn't think about this now. All that mattered now, was to find you. Not the what ifs. "Come on, boy. Let's go find Y/N." He took the reins of your stallion in his hand and continued his search. He hoped, that he was close to finding you finally. Finding your horse was at least a good start. Daryl tried to track you now with the help of the horse's hoof prints, leading the animal back to where it came from - and he was successful...

The traces led him to a slim, but long riverbed, which was surrounded by trees and hills. Unfortunately, the traces stopped straight at the cliff. Daryl looked down, scanned his surroundings. Nothing. So, he decided to just follow the riverbed, upstream; in the hopes of finding you - and he did. About ten minutes later, he stopped in his tracks once again and looked around, eyes especially focused on the riverbed beneath him. His gaze came to an abrupt halt, when he saw something rather big laying in the shallow water. Squinting his eyes, he noticed it was a body. It could be a walker - or you. Of course, he decided to check on it, so he marched quickly forward, taking the horse with him. "Come on."

The closer he got, the bigger became his steps. Reaching the point, where he had spotted the body, the archer stopped. His eyes focused again on the body - widening mere seconds later in shock. It was indeed your body, laying motionless in the shallow water. Daryl felt how his heartbeat quickened. Hopefully you were just hurt and unconscious and not dead. "Stay." He told the horse, which would hopefully stay and made his way as fast as possible down the hill. Being focused on his path ahead, Daryl didn't notice the lonely walker trudging through the water - straight into your direction...

A few minutes later, he had finally made it down to the riverbed. Getting to you, was the only thing on his mind right now. Barely after he had lifted his head, the next shock rippled through his body. A lone walker, getting on its rotten knees beside you, ready to take a bite. Oh no, he thought. "Nah, you ain't takin' her away from me, you filthy piece of shit." At lightning speed, he loaded his crossbow and shot. The arrow hit its target perfectly, piercing the walker's skull and causing it to fall limp and lifeless on the ground beside you. There was no holding back now. Daryl quickly ran towards you, falling on his knees beside you, making the water splash around him. "Y/N?! Y/N?!" He took your head gently in his hands, checking your pulse and trying to wake you up. When he felt your beating carotid beneath his fingertips, a relieved breath left his lips. Thank god, he thought. You were still alive. "Y/N?" Daryl called out your name again and gently shook your shoulder. Your body twitched the slightest bit, before your eyes fluttered open. Y/E/C orbs looked up at his face, mustering it. "D-Daryl?" You whispered, clearly only halfway conscious. "I'm here, Y/N, I'm here." A shallow smile slipped on your face. "Daryl." He nodded, thumb grazing your cheek softly. "I got ya, sunshine. I got ya. Always do. Always will." You smiled again, before you slipped into the dark depths of unconsciousness once again, while Daryl checked on you. He immediately noticed the big wound on the side of your head. Moving further down your body, he saw a few scratches on your hands and a big gash on your left shin as well. He fumbled for his rug and wrapped it around your leg, in order to staunch. He checked his surroundings for any walkers, but the coast was clear. "Alright. We gotta go. It's gettin' dark." So, he lifted you up as careful as possible and carried you over to the hill. Of course, he couldn't get you up there, so he had to lead the horse down the luckily not too steep cliff and somehow managed to get you on the horse, before he climbed on the stallion's back as well behind you. Daryl caged you in between his arms to keep you from falling and steadied your head against his chest. He couldn't care less about the fact that he was getting himself wet, due to the fact that your clothes were literally soaked. All Daryl wanted was to get you as fast as possible back to the Kingdom and a doctor to check on your injuries.

It was pitch black outside, when Daryl finally reached the Kingdom. The steel doors got opened immediately, of course and a doctor was as well within minutes at your side. Although you didn't notice anything of what was going on around you. Not how they stitched up your wounds and administered you some medicine, neither how worried Daryl was or how he sat by your bedside, holding your hand, until you finally regained consciousness again.

Your eyes fluttered open once again, meeting an almost entirely dark room. The only source of light came from somewhere beside you. The first thing you noticed was the dull pain in your head and leg, causing you to hiss softly. The second thing you noticed, was the big, warm hand enveloping yours. Tilting your head slightly down, you saw nobody else than Daryl sitting on a chair beside you, looking utterly worried, tired and worn out. You tried to speak, but your throat was completely dry. All that left your lips were some strange sounds - something the archer noticed immediately. His eyes snapped up to meet yours. "Y/N! Yer awake!" You tried to speak again, but nothing. So, you gestured to your throat. Daryl understood, of course and reached for the glass of water on your bedside table, before his free hand disappeared underneath your head, lifting it gently, in order to help you drink. "T-Thank you." "’Course." You blinked a few times and looked around. "W-Where am I and w-what happened?" Daryl took a deep breath. "I was searchin' for ya the whole day... Found yer horse and followed the traces, which led me to that riverbed, where I found you. Injured and seconds away from gettin' bitten. I brought ya back to the Kingdom. Was closer than Alexandria." You swallowed hard and nodded. "What happened to ya?" Daryl asked carefully, voice still laced with worry. "Can you... remember?" You nodded once more. "Y-Yeah... After our fight, all I wanted was to run away, so I just rode through the woods, not caring about where my horse would lead me. At some point I was on top of those cliffs and then everything happened kind of fast. Something scared him - I don't know what. It definitely wasn't a walker. That much I can tell. It... came out of nowhere, so he unseated me. I hit the ground and hit my head, I guess." You explained and reached for the glass of water once more. Daryl was again quick to help you drink. "When the horse unseated ya on top of that cliff... How did ya got in the riverbed?" "Well..." You started, your demeanour suddenly shifted, turning bitter and sad. "Your new girlfriend got me there." Daryl's heart almost stopped at your words and he grimaced at the term you used. "L-Leah got you there?!" "Yeah. When I reopened my eyes, I saw a figure hovering above me and felt the ground move underneath me. She dragged me towards the cliff and helped me stand up, before she pushed me over the edge, causing me to fall over, of course. On my way down, I hit a stone and well, something must've cut my shin, too. If I didn't just hit my head real bad a few minutes ago and if my vision would've been clear and straight, I would've fought that bitch and tried to stop her, but I couldn't." The archer just stared at you, speechless. He couldn't believe that a kind woman like he thought Leah was, would do something like that, but then he remembered her words... Just know that I won't give up without a fight! It only proved to him once more, that he was deceived in her. He felt how anger bubbled up in his system. Leah almost caused him to lose the woman he loved. Maybe that was her plan after all. "You don't believe me, do you?" Your words ripped Daryl out of his thoughts. He quickly pushed his anger aside. Now wasn't the time for this. He needed to get things right between you and him.

"Nah, of course I do. There ain't a reason to not believe ya." He shook his head. "'M so sorry, Y/N. For everythin'. You didn't deserve this. All of it. I was an idiot." You crossed your arms over your chest. "Yes, you pretty much are. It hurts, Daryl." "I-I know, but please, let me explain now." You sighed, but nodded. "Go on." "Leah's not ma girlfriend. I met - or well, rather found 'er a few months ago. She was alone, so was I, so we just became companions. There was never more than that, I swear." You frowned. "But... She touched you, kissed you on the cheek... Daryl, that's not nothing." "I know, but it was her, not me. Guess she had a thing fer me or somethin', but I didn't know! I didn't see through her intentions, 'cause..." He tried feverishly to explain. Daryl had been never good with words, but he needed to be good right now. "Because?" "'Cause all I ever thought about was you. I love ya, Y/N. Always did, always will. That ain't goin' to change. I never saw it clearer than I do now. Gods, I felt like dyin' when I watched ya leave - and don't get me started when you were missin'. I was worried sick, almost shit my pants." His words went straight to your heart, pulling at your heartstrings. You knew you should be pissed at him. You knew you shouldn't just forgive him, but... What he said and how he was looking at you now - like a lost and beaten puppy... You couldn't. After all, that man was the love of your life - and oh how much you still loved him. And besides, if he wouldn't go out there to search for you, you would be more than likely dead now. "Oh Daryl..." You lifted your hand to cup his beardy cheek, causing his eyes to meet yours. "You really are an idiot..." You started to smile. "But you're my idiot." He blinked. "Does that... Does that mean yer comin' back ta me?" A soft giggle left your lips. "I was never gone, my love. Just... off track." The corners of Daryl's mouth lifted slightly as well. "You're forgivin' me?" "I do, but you gotta make it up to me." The archer nodded quickly. "'Course, sure. I'll do anythin' for ya, sunshine. Whatever ya want." "Then stay with me." You said, taking his hand in yours. "Just be here. I never want to miss you again." Daryl gave your hand a squeeze, smiling. "Promise." That was all you wanted and needed to hear. You reached for the lapels of his shirt with your free hand and pulled him down to you. Daryl understood your intentions and locked his lips on yours.

But as quick as the kiss started, as quick was it over again, when Carol entered the room. "The trouble in paradise is cleared, like I see." Her words caused you both to split apart, startled by her sudden appearance. She just smiled down at you two, arms crossed over her chest.

[web-spinning]

Could you do a first kiss w/ medic imagine? 🥺

A / N- Take your little, funky medicine man. To clarify- I did not made up the park name, it is a national park somewhere in NM. Hope you enjoy, anon!

First Kiss with Medic

It was a beautiful afternoon in the Bottomless Lakes Park.

You sighed, looking at the endless pond before you. He wasn't showing up, and anxiety started to build up in your stomach. You looked down, already considering leaving.

Then you heard light footsteps behind you. In hope, you looked around, only to see another tour guide. Sighing, you looked back again.

It was tiring to wait. For a moment you still waited, but then you realized it's no use. It's been two hours. He ditched you on your third date. 

Feeling rather pathetic, you turned around once more, ready to leave the park. That's when your eyes met a figure running in your direction. It was him! You couldn't help but smile as he approached closer.

- Finally. Thought you would never get there.- You teased as Ludwig stopped to catch a few breaths. Now you also noticed he kept his hands behind his back. 

- Sorry. I got busy at work.- He managed to mutter out, fixing his glasses. 

- At least you showed up...and you brought long trousers? It's the middle of the summer!- You chuckled, noticing his attire.

- To not get bit by insects. It's a tactic...oh, and I got you something to recompense ze fact I'm late.- Saying that, he slowly took his hands from behind his back, only to reveal a beautiful bouquet. It was made out of blue cornflowers, meadows and small daisies. All that dressed up nicely with a white ribbon. You felt your cheeks turn red at that, and your smile became even bigger. He gently handed it to you, and without thinking you took it. Your first reaction was to gently peck the flowers, then you faced him again.

- Thanks, Ludwig. You shouldn't have.- Saying that, you slowly approached him.

- You know, the Florist told me those daisies are edible. Wanna check how they taste?- He asked.

- Oh? I mean, why not?- You replied, looking down at the bouquet. You wanted to reach down and take one out, when suddenly you felt a hand reach your chin. You looked up to see Ludwig gently lifting your head up. Raising an eyebrow you wanted to ask what's his doing, when he slowly reached his head down. Within a second, you felt his soft lips press against yours. It was unexpected, but felt pretty nice. When you gathered up enough courage to actually press back, he already slowly pulled out of the kiss. You just stood there, looking at him with awe.

- What's wrong? I ate some back at the store, didn't want you to ruin der Strauss.- He said innocently, while you fought the blush coming to your cheeks.

- It wasn't bad, you know?- You said, smiling slightly.- Alright, let's go, the park closes soon!

With that, you gently took his hand and led him towards the small pond nearby, one hand holding his, the other one holding the bouquet. 

[satendou]

⟼  monster

⍣ all time low series | next | 1/4

・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・

⇢  pairing: tendo/reader

⇢ au: atl!au, college!au

⇢ summary: you like horror movies, tendou likes horror movies, what could go wrong?

⇥ masterlist

⇢ warnings: unprotected sex, creampie, fingering, mentions of bullying, insecurities, piercings, cursing

⇢ word count: 13.2k

・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・

⇢ a/n: i think this is the biggest fic i’ve ever written and it’s one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite i’ve written so far. it was kinda hard to write it in a way that stayed true to my vision for it but also didn’t make it childish, so i hope i succeeded in that regard. as always, thank you to @keijiskitten​ for editing this!

“Oh, come on, ‘Kaashi,” you said, setting your hand on your hip. You were standing around in the middle of the classroom with him and a few others, waiting for your professor to show up who was no doubt getting a coffee from the overflowing Starbucks down the street. Class would be half over before he finally arrived. “It’s just a few scary movies.”

“Sorry, _____. I have to study and I just know that trying to watch movies with you and study is gonna be a nightmare,” he said, giving you a sympathetic look. “And give me nightmares.”

You rolled your eyes and looked around to Bokuto, who was scrolling through his phone while he chatted with Yaku about the next practice. That was a hard no. Poor Bo would agree without complaint and wind up with nightmares for a week, clinging to you throughout the night. Catching Akaashi’s eye, you exchanged knowing looks and chuckles.

“Hey, _____,” Semi said from your other side. He was busy filling out a music sheet with notes for his next possible song, and the way he said your name indicated he was more focused on that than your quandary.

Still, you turned to look at him over your shoulder, quirking your eyebrow at him. When he didn’t immediately continue, you prompted him. “What’s up?”

“Oh, right,” he said, looking up from the paper. He gave you a small smile and tapped the tip of his pencil on the desk in a smooth rhythm, leaving small marks all over the surface. “You should see if Tendo wants to join you. He’s really into horror movies too.”

“Um, who?”

Semi’s eyes widened in surprise and he pointed over his shoulder. You could hear Akaashi snicker from your other side. The chair on Semi’s other side tipped back on its back legs, and a man with close-cut red hair peeked around his back, waving cheekily at you.

“Hi, name’s Tendo Satori. I’ve only been hanging around you for about two weeks now,” he said and, though he sounded lighthearted and jovial about it, you could see the way his eyes remained narrowed, scrutinizing you. And he didn’t look impressed.

You flushed bright red, realizing you did know him but had never committed his name to memory. Mostly because he hadn’t ever really said anything to you or seemed interested in you at all. 

“I-- well, I’m sorry,” you offered awkwardly. But you meant it, at least. You felt a bit bad now that he was in your face. Trying to lighten the mood, you joked, “I’m _____ _____ and my brain space is committed to horror movies and studying. No space for names I’m afraid.”

Semi rolled his eyes and Akaashi heaved a long-suffering sigh, covering his eyes with his hand, but Tendo laughed at your stupid joke. His eyes eased up, his smile relaxing, and he now looked genuinely interested. 

“A horror movie marathon, huh? I’m interested. Why don’t you tell me more?”

--

Tendo didn’t actually expect it to go his way. As with most other people, he was sure you were just faking your enthusiasm and would flake out once you were free of him. 

And yet when lunch rolled around and your group of friends were standing in the breezeway, shivering as you tried to pick out some place to go and eat off campus, you fell into step beside him.

“I really am sorry for not knowing who you were,” you offered, adjusting your bag on your shoulder and slipping a pair of gloves on. “Could we, maybe--”

He cut you off, grinning. “Forgiven and forgotten, _____.”

Hesitantly, you smiled back. He was strange, to be sure. Even though you hadn’t really had a true conversation with him yet, you got the feeling he was different, eccentric and unpredictable maybe. The way he harassed the shit out of Semi and some of the others was hysterical, though. You couldn’t pinpoint what it was that made you feel that way, but it wasn’t bad. You were even a little curious.

“Okay cool. So if, by chance, we were to do this movie marathon, how would you feel about cannibals?” you asked, tapping your chin thoughtfully. It was a theme you had been thinking about for a while, but none of your friends were into horror movies much, let alone a dozen or so movies centered around such a gory theme.

Tendo clicked his tongue and you heard a strange clink. “Hypothetically, right?”

“Right,” you said, your eyes zeroed in on his mouth, waiting for him to speak again.

He hummed, his lips curling in thought and his eyes narrowing as he stared off in the distance. Second in height only to Bokuto, he towered over everyone even though the two of you walked together at the back of the group. Speaking of Bokuto, you could hear him over the chatter of the other students around you, talking about the diner just a block away from the school and guessed that that was where you were going. 

Then he shrugged. “That sounds rad. What’re you thinking? Hypothetically.”

“Well, obviously gotta go with The Hills Have Eyes. I mean, it’s a classic. And then of course Wrong Turn because there’s so many of those. And, uh…that’s all I have, but that’s literally like 8 movies and if we get past those I don’t know what we’ll do,” you said, weaving through the throngs of people on the sidewalk. You had forgotten you had been trying to see what was in his mouth just a few minutes ago as you avoided toes. You could see the diner sign up ahead, reading “Newly Opened” and a list of menu items, but it was otherwise obscured from your view.

A gasp from Tendo startled you and you whipped around to look at him, only to find him staring at you in disbelief.

He had to fight the laugh in his chest from coming up at the wide-eyed, freaked out look on your face as he said, “I cannot believe you’ve forgotten the most classic of classic cannibal movies, _____. How could you forget The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies?”

Relief mingled with amusement on your face when you realized what he was getting at, and you covered your mouth as you laughed. Putting on your best ashamed expression, you closed your eyes. “I can’t believe I forgot those. I’m such a fake fan.”

“Kicked out of the club for sure,” he said, holding the door open for you. The bustle of the diner drowned out anything more Tendo said as you followed the others towards a large table in the back corner. After that, you were seated between Semi and Akaashi and the conversation was halted.

For the time being.

--

You didn’t bring up the marathon again, though you snagged Tendo’s number the day after you went to the diner. The conversation started out about movies and morphed into other topics like majors, highschools, how he knew Eita and how you had met Bokuto and Akaashi, amongst others. It left Tendo in a bit of confusion. The two of you kept up a steady stream of communication throughout the day, even sneaking in texts during classes that could net you extra work or pop quizzes. And yet never once was the marathon mentioned.

Part of him was bummed because he had kind of been looking forward to the movies, but the larger part of him was unsurprised. Something like that was way too intimate, and for someone like you to want to do something like that with a-- someone like him was too much to hope for. He was just happy that you weren’t avoiding him like most others did; he wasn’t going to ask for more.

Except he kind of did want more, and he didn’t want to feel that. The disappointment was already tangible on his tongue and he swallowed it down every time he saw you in the hall, chatting or laughing with someone else. It would ease slightly when you would turn to look in his direction, flashing a smile and waving as you passed by. In class, you started sitting beside him, Bokuto and Akaashi often following behind, and he found his small group of friends growing because of you. Bokuto was loud and brash and treated him like they were best friends, and Akaashi’s quiet demeanor reminded him a lot of Ushijima. Except he was maybe a little more expressive. 

You even started walking home with him, parting ways when you had to go in different directions with a soft smile and a shine in your eyes that he tried not to read too much into. He enjoyed those days, when no one else was around and he just talked. You even knew some of the manga he read, and he lost himself rambling about Jump. When he brought it up once, about how he talked too much, you shook your head frantically. 

“No, no, I don’t mind! It reminds me of Bokuto, to be honest. He can talk about anything and keep a conversation going so easily. I’m kinda jealous,” you said, giving him that satisfied smile again.

He tried to clamp down on the feelings, to keep a tight rein on the emotions that kept trying to pull his eyes in your direction anytime he heard your voice or drew his thoughts to you late at night.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes, frustrated at the fact that he was thinking of you a-fuckin’-gain. Didn’t he have enough to worry about without wondering what you thought of him? He already knew. You weren’t interested. It was fine.

His phone dinged, the screen lighting up to reveal your name and a text.

You: ‘watcha up to?’ Tendo: ‘nm. studying and suffering. you?’ Y: ‘“studying” sksks what’re you doing tomorrow night by chance?’

Tendo’s heart stuttered in his chest and he groaned, barely resisting the urge to fling his phone out the frost covered window in front of him. For the love of god, could the universe stop fucking with him? Clicking his tongue, he considered telling you he was busy. It would be easiest, and save him the disappointment that was sure to accompany whatever you had planned.

But his fingers were traitorous and typed out exactly what he didn’t want to say. Or so he told himself.

T: ‘nothin. what’re you thinkin?’ Y: ‘well...i’m thinkin about cannibals’

Tendou snorted at that and watched the three little dots appear again.

Y: ‘and u’

He choked and slammed his phone down on the desk, wincing and immediately picking it back up to check the damage. No, no way, he wouldn’t look at it like that. It wasn’t like that. You were just inviting him for the movie marathon in a totally platonic way.

Another message came in.

Y: ‘and me’

You were actually trying to kill him.

--

He could think of nothing the next day but how much he was looking forward to that night. Once he had finally gotten his shit together enough to text you back, the kinks had been worked out. It was almost a no brainer that he would be spending the night. A movie marathon with twelve movies meant an all-nighter, if the two of you could pull it off. He would go home after classes, while away the few hours until around six o’clock, and then head to the address you had given him. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t see much of you that day. You shared no classes, and you had a class when he took lunch, so he ate with Semi and Bokuto that day. Instead you snuck texts to him when you could, mostly talking about how excited you were for that night. It didn’t help, somehow both fanning and soothing his inner turmoil.

“Why do you look like you’re gonna throw up?” Semi asked at last. Tendo was staring at his half-eaten chicken sandwich like it had mortally offended him, and he was curious. 

Tendo jumped, having forgotten the other two were even with him, and shook his head. “Uh, nothin’.”

But Bokuto snickered and leaned in to whisper to Semi, who was already suspicious of his short, clipped answer. Whether he actually wanted to whisper or not, Tendo wasn’t sure, but Bo sure as shit didn’t manage it. “Him and _____ are gonna watch movies tonight.”

Of course you had told Bokuto. And probably Akaashi too. He wondered if they had changed their minds and decided to join you when they found out. It put a rather annoying feeling in his chest, like someone was squeezing his heart.

The other two were still talking in a loud whisper, watching Tendo’s expression shift and flicker through a myriad of emotions. Bokuto was lost, but Semi could recognize them after so many years of knowing the moody red-head, and wanted to laugh. He was so good at hiding his negative emotions, but when it came to sadness or happiness, he was like an open book. And he was being pretty obvious right then.

“Wow, that’s pretty big, Tendo,” he said, watching his friend closely. Tendo flinched, shrinking into his hoodie, and Semi nodded to himself. “Don’t let yourself get so worked up. She wouldn’t ask if she didn’t want to.”

He knew where Tendo’s insecurities were coming from. A childhood fraught with bullies and fake friends and people pretending they wanted him around only to treat him like a freak. Even through highschool it was that way, with a particularly nasty incident involving a girl pretending to want to date him that ended with Tendo refusing to come to school for almost a week. After that, he kept to himself and the volleyball club, refusing to even acknowledge that anyone else might actually want to get to know him seriously.

It had gotten a bit easier when he left Shiratorizawa and those memories and most of those people behind. Growing up with them was what had made it hardest, so surrounding himself with fresh people who didn’t have any preconceived notions and rumors about him had allowed him to open up a little. Even Ushijima, across the ocean in California, noticed a marked difference in Tendo’s demeanor.

Semi just hoped you didn’t do anything to send him spiralling back into his insecurities.

“Yeah, I guess.” 

It was easy for Semi to say that, but he had no idea what it was like, constantly worrying if people were being serious or if they were just waiting to pull the rug out from under him. Even now, he was fighting with himself to just get through the day, waiting constantly for you to change your mind and cancel the plans. Every time his phone lit up with your name, he expected it.

And yet, even after his classes ended and he arrived home, you didn’t. Just commenting that you would be MIA for a while while you cleaned the apartment and went to the store. And when you came back a few hours later, while he was binging Buzzfeed Unsolved videos, his heart leapt into his throat, but you were only telling him what you had gotten for him and to pick up anything else he might want on the way over.

The time couldn’t pass by fast enough while he busied himself packing as slowly as he could. He was already wearing sweatpants but brought a pair of basketball shorts just in case. A clean t-shirt and the other essential items he would need for the night went into a backpack, and when that was done he decided it was a good time to leave.

Unable to help himself, he sent you a text before he left, interrupting whatever you were already typing, the three little bubbles disappearing for a moment while you read his text.

T: ‘you sure you’re alright with this? i don’t have to come over’ Y: ‘?’ Y: ‘do u not want to!’ Y: ‘?*’ Y: ‘we can do this another time if you want’

He was typing before he could really think about the possibility that that might be the best option, his heart thumping harder than he liked in his chest, and he willed himself to take a deep breath. It was just two friends hanging out, watching horror movies together. Nothing more.

T: ‘no i do. was just making sure you were still ok w it.’ T: ‘leaving now to get snacks. your choices s u c k’ Y: ofc hurry up and get over here Y: ‘tf rude’

Locking the door behind him, he slung his bag onto his shoulder and sighed, hoping the night didn’t end as badly as his nerves were telling him it would.

--

Your doorbell rang an hour later, while you were in the middle of setting up your room for the binge. You were hoping he wouldn’t mind, but you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable either. It was hard to miss the nervousness and the way he seemed to shy away from you sometimes, especially when you did certain things like reach out to pull something off his hoodie or read something over his shoulder. But you wanted this to be as normal as possible, to prove to him you were genuine.

You liked Tendo. A lot. 

He was funny and sweet and just as eccentric as you had expected. His jokes were off-color but not offensive, just sarcastic and witty and you giggled every time. The way his face lit up when he heard you sent your heart into a frenzy, and the way it fell and he seemed to shrink into himself a moment later hurt. It didn't feel like a rejection of you but instead a rejection of himself and you wondered if there was any way to help him understand that you didn’t want anything from him but for him to be himself.

Upon opening the door, you found it was only the pizza delivery man, and you smiled with disappointment, until you spotted a shaved red-head coming up behind him.

Tendo gulped when he spotted you in your open doorway, wearing woolen leggings and a t-shirt, exchanging a box of pizza for cash and smiling brightly at him over the man’s shoulder. Waving, he waited until the stranger was out of the way before he approached you.

“Hey,” he greeted, peering down at you before scanning the empty living room of your apartment over your head.

You were unsurprised to see the wariness in his eyes, bleeding into the smile he was forcing on his face. It was your first time seeing a look so fake on him and for the first time you wondered if this was really a good idea. But it was only movies. And you liked Tendo. It would be fine.

So you smiled and ushered him in with one hand, the box perched precariously on your other, and watched him shrink into himself like he always did when he came within touching distance of you until he had passed into the living room. Then he just stood there, peering around with that same suspicious look, eyes narrowed and mouth turned down at the corners.

“So, what do you think?” you asked, pretending you hadn’t seen it as you moved into the kitchen. 

“It’s nice,” he answered, letting his bag hit the floor with a thump. The rest of the apartment was silent save for the heater going, and little by little he felt himself relaxing. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for little ol’ me, y’know.”

You giggled at the way he pointed at himself, wearing a cheesy grin as he walked into the kitchen. “Maybe not, but it’s been ages since I’ve been able to do anything like this. It’s as much for me as it is for you.” You punctuated your statement by poking him lightly in the chest, and he feigned pain.

“You wound me. And here I thought you were treating me special,” he moaned, leaning back against the counter and placing his hand over his forehead. He grinned a little hearing you giggle again, and then the pizza box hit his arm.

“I am treating you special, you goof,” you said, opening it up and letting the smell of cheese fill the kitchen. “With pizza. But I think we’d better take it into the bedroom, since that’s where we’ll be watching the movies. Just in case we fall asleep, you know,” you tacked on at the end, suddenly realizing how that might sound. Not that it meant anything, but again, you feared making him uncomfortable.

Absorbed in your thoughts, you missed the faint dusting of pink on his cheeks, clashing marvelously with his vibrant hair. You carried the box down to your bedroom with Tendo on your heels, eager to see your room. It was about what he expected from you-- a messy bed, a cluttered desk, clothes half in your laundry basket and half on the floor surrounding it. The TV sitting on your dresser was already set up with The Hills Have Eyes menu playing, volume muted. You set the box on the bed before smoothing the covers and crawling on.

Tendo hovered in the middle of your room, casting his eyes around nervously, looking for a chair or something to sit on. He definitely did not want to assume, but you patted the bed beside you, giving him a quizzical look.

“I’m not gonna bite, Tendo. Promise,” you said, and though you made it sound like a joke he could hear a line of seriousness at the core. Running his tongue over the back of his teeth, he walked slowly towards you, giving you every opportunity to change your mind, but you just looked impatient until he climbed on beside you. “Alright, now let’s get this started!”

--

Two movies in and the two of you had gotten pretty comfortable. Both of you had stretched out on the bed, but you had decided to lean up against the headboard with your pillows to support you while Tendo had opted to lay on his stomach with his head resting on his arms by your feet.

“Would you stop?” he laughed, pushing your foot away where it had been tapping incessantly at his shoulder. You were just doing it to annoy him, and you giggled at the irritated amusement in his voice.

The pizza box sat empty on the floor by the bed, but you found yourself craving something else to eat. When you hummed, Tendo looked away from the screen, rolling onto his side and propping his chin in his hand to watch you nibble at your lip. It was cute, he couldn’t lie, and the anxiety he had repressed by getting distracted by the movie came back slowly.

“What’s up?”

“I’m thinkin’ about...those chips,” you answered, and made to get up. You had to crawl over his long legs and almost fell off the bed as you gracelessly made your move, knee slipping off the small space between his leg and the edge of the mattress. Sticking your tongue out as he laughed at you, you pranced towards the door. 

“Bring my bags too, would you?” he called, pausing the movie since you had forgotten. It had just started, and you were lucky that he was nice enough to do it, especially when he heard your voice carry back down the hallway.

“Kiss my ass, Tendo.”

He laughed at that, loud enough that you could hear it from the kitchen and over the crinkling of the bags as you rifled through them. In the end, you shrugged and carried them all back down to your room, along with a few drinks. Maybe you wouldn’t have to get up again for a little while.

You shivered when you stepped back into the room. It wasn’t much warmer than the rest of the house, and now your arms and toes were cold. The heater was already set as high as it would go and hardly touched the chill, and you cursed the cheap piece of crap. 

“What, you cold?” he asked, pulling out a bag of the chips he had brought with him. The tab on a can of soda popped and he cursed as it fizzed over onto your blanket. “Shit, sorry.”

“No worries. Yeah, kinda. But the heater is already on full blast. Ugh,” you said, sitting beside him on the bed again. He was still wearing his hoodie, and up close he was warm, making you realize just how cold you were. You were just gonna have to crawl under your blankets because you would never survive the cold like that. “Wait…”

There was a tent on the screen where the movie had paused, and Tendo looked back and forth from it to you with curiosity. There was a calculating look on your face and he wasn’t sure he liked it. “Uh, what?”

There was no way he would agree to it. Way too intimate, right? But it really seemed like it’d be right up his alley, and it would be fun to build, and it would get you warm. It was the perfect idea really.

“Tendo, how do you feel about making...a pillow fort?”

The heater continued to buzz in the corner, overlaid by the slight static from the TV, while Tendo processed your question. His mouth had fallen open, brows furrowed while he stared at you in what could only be surprise, and you laughed nervously.

“Wha-- Seriously?”

“Um, you know what, nevermind. I guess it was a stupid idea. It just seemed like it might be fun and--”

He cut your babbling off with an excited wave of his arms, leaning forward into your space and in the light from the TV you could see a childlike happiness glowing in his eyes. “I’ve never made one but it sounds like fun. You know how to do it?”

Stunned by the turn of events, you nodded. “Well, sort of. Mine have always fallen down after a while though,” you admitted, standing up from the bed again. “We need chairs and books and all the blankets and pillows we can find. And the couch cushions. Probably.”

In no time flat you had everything gathered, with Tendou hovering around waiting for you to direct him. It was a pain to get everything set up, and you ended up using the bed since you didn’t have enough chairs. Moving the chairs all over the place until there was enough room inside and you could put the books down to seal the ‘walls’ was tedious, but it was worth it when Tendo crawled in to set up the cushions to seal the space beneath the bed. After padding the floor with several blankets to lay on, you stuffed the pillows from your bed in after Tendo. When you didn’t immediately crawl in after him, he poked his head out to see what you were doing.

“Well, we didn’t think this through at all, so now we gotta watch the movies on my laptop,” you said as you ejected the DVD from your player. The jingle of your computer booting up played and backlit your face in the glow, and you prayed it wasn’t going to go right into an update. It took a few minutes to start up, so you passed it to him while you plugged the power cord in and ran it into the fort. 

You could hear the clicking of the mousepad and by the time you flipped off the light and crawled in beside Tendo, the movie menu was playing. You also realized just how cramped it really was with Tendo’s lanky form inside. There was just enough space for both of you, but you were going to have to either sit up with it in your lap or you were going to have to set it to the side of you and lay on your sides.

He was tense, staring determinedly at the movie playing and trying to avoid moving too much. Or so you guessed, anyway. Anytime you so much as shifted he would jerk away before relaxing, and you were a split second away from nixing the idea. A part of you was starting to wonder if it wasn’t you that was the problem, but if it was, why had he bothered to agree?

“You’re really warm, Tendo,” you said, trying to break the ice. It was an awkward and clumsy attempt, but maybe you could help him settle down if you showed him you weren’t uncomfortable first?

But that just made him pull further away, leaning against the couch cushions. “Oh, sorry.”

It was already warm and comfortable in your little fort, a light blanket thrown over your knees and warming your toes. And with him beside you, you were actually a little more than comfortable. “No,” you said, waving your hands frantically, “no, like, it’s nice. I’m finally warm.”

It was hard to tell in the washed out light of the laptop, but Tendo’s face turned a very bright shade of pink. He tugged the neck of his hoodie up over his nose and fixed his eyes firmly on the flickering violence, annoyed that he was overwhelmed by something so simple. Why did you have to be so damn cute?

But it did the trick, even if he didn’t know that was your intention. He finally relaxed and stopped flinching every time you shifted, trying to find a comfortable position. Sitting cross legged only worked for so long and Tendo noticed you moving around after a while, when your knee knocked his for the third or fourth time.

“You alright? You’re about to bring the whole fort down,” he commented around a mouthful of chips.

“Ah, well, my back is starting to hurt sitting up, I guess. I wanna lay down,” you said, sounding whinier than you meant to, following it up with a short stretch. It alleviated the pain for a moment, until you hunched over again.

He swallowed his chips and returned his eyes to the TV screen, thinking. On one hand, he wasn’t exactly comfortable. On the other, he had no idea what you were thinking. Did you want to abandon the fort?

But you didn’t say anything, fiddling with the blanket for a few moments as you tried to work up your courage. You damn sure didn’t want to tear down your fort-- it had taken you way too long to put the stupid thing up-- and if you said the idea of cuddling up with Tendo wasn’t appealing, you would surely go to hell for lying. The underlying problem was him. What would he say if you brought up the obvious solution?

You were taking too long to answer, so Tendo prompted you, pausing the movie. “Do you want to just get back on the bed again?”

“No,” you said, and then flinched. You had answered way too quickly and that somehow made him nervous and reassured at the same time. “This is really nice I just…I-know-that-you’re-kind-of-uncomfortable-and-I-don’t-want-to-make-you-more-uncomfortable.”

Tendou stared at you, unblinking as he tried to decipher your breathlessly rushed words. After a moment he laughed, still confused, but he could see the anxiety on your face. “I-- what? All I heard was uncomfortable, I think. But you don’t make me uncomfortable.”

Your heart thumped painfully in your chest as that weight left your shoulders. He was so intuitive it was almost scary. Even still, you had to make sure. “Oh, really? You always seem like...weird around me, I guess. I was starting to think I was pushing too hard, I guess?”

“Sorry,” he said, scratching the back of his head. His elbow brushed the sheet above you and he quickly dropped it. “I’m used to people being uncomfortable around me. Guess it just turned into a habit to avoid people I don’t know. So that I don’t freak them out.”

Not entirely true, given that he enjoyed messing with people, but it was true in your* case. It took you a moment to answer, and he started to worry that he had said too much. 

“You don’t...make me uncomfortable, Tendo. You never did. You’re a weirdo but not...in a bad way,” you said, and glanced at him to gauge his reaction, worried he would take it in a negative light.

But he was smiling, eyes fixed on the paused movie and you bit your lip. He was way too attractive and you couldn’t fathom anyone who thought otherwise. Clearly they were just cowards.

“Well that’s a relief. It would make things pre-tty awkward right now if I did,” he said and bumped your shoulder. It felt like a whole planet was lifted off his shoulders with this revelation and he heaved a huge sigh. “So, if we don’t want to abandon the fort but our backs are about to crumble, what do we do?”

“Uh.” You blanched, having forgotten about that little hiccup. Your idea was embarrassing to think about let alone explain and if you hadn’t made him uncomfortable yet this was sure to.

“Uh,” he mocked, and twisted around like a snake so his face was in front of you, blocking the light from the screen. “Spit it out before we collapse.”

“Just-- um--” you stuttered, and he quickly realized whatever your idea was, it had you flustered. He was just about to start teasing when you picked up the laptop and set it to the side of you. Rolling over onto your side, you tucked your hand underneath your pillow and relaxed, feeling the pain immediately alleviate. “Now you lay down. If you want.”

Your heart was racing in your chest, waiting for him to do something. It was a long, long minute before he finally said anything, and it wasn’t what you expected. Not that you had any idea of what to expect.

“Uh, are you sure? I mean, we could just--” What was he thinking? This was exactly what he wanted and wasn’t it Semi who had said she wouldn’t ask if she didn’t want it? Did he really have to overthink everything? You were in a literal pillow fort watching scary movies with him, offering to let him cuddle up with you, and he still thought you weren’t sure.

“Well, unless you aren’t,” you said, and was that disappointment in your voice? No way.

“No no, no. I’m gonna take my hoodie off first, though. It’s way too warm in here now,” he said, backtracking quickly. Then again, maybe it was just him that was too hot. It was an actual dream come true, and he pinched himself quickly just to make sure he wasn’t asleep. 

You rolled over onto your back to watch him struggle, his arms brushing the ceiling and walls of your warm little haven as he fought the hoodie. Your eyes widened as it finally came free, seeing the colorful swirls of ink covering his arms. “Holy shit.”

“Wha--?” he said, and turned to find you staring open mouthed at his tattoos. “Oh, right, I guess you haven’t seen these before, huh?”

“Nope,” you said, sitting up and squinting to see the undefined shapes in the faint light. It was almost cute the way he held his arm out to you hesitantly, like a child offering you a drawing to examine and praise. Taking it, you traced the lines covering his smooth, warm skin, trying to figure out what they were. But the shapes were undefinable in the faint light. You could make out splashes of blue and purple, red and pink, separated by black lines or faded together to make something. Part of you wanted to ask, but there was something mysterious about not knowing. “I can’t even tell what they are but god, Tendou, I know they’re gorgeous.”

He shivered at your featherlight touches, the feel of your fingers skimming delicately over his skin, and your words caused fire to erupt in his stomach and chest. His tattoos were something he was extremely proud of, one of the few things he had that made him feel confident, and hearing you compliment them made him feel so fucking good. Chucking his jacket out into the room, he returned to your side and the two of you got comfortable.

Pressing play on the movie for the 3rd time, the two of you fell silent. With your head below his chin, it was the perfect position for him to see the screen over you. You could feel the warmth rolling off of him, only an inch of space between his chest and your back, and both of you were well aware of it.

It was nearly impossible to focus on the movie, trying to reign in the urge to just slide back a little bit and mold yourself to him. Nibbling at your lip, you rolled just a little under the pretense of stretching and bumped into him. Just your arm into his, and he didn’t move away.

“You good? Need more space? I can crawl under the bed if you want,” he said, smirking at you. He thought he knew what you were playing at, but your next words confirmed it. It was the oldest trick in the book and, even though no one had ever used it on him, he had seen it at work with Semi and Shirabu too many times.

“Just stretching. I’m still a bit cold though,” you said, facing the TV again.

Suppressing a snicker, knowing damn well that wasn’t what you were after, he offered, “I can get you another blanket, if you need it.”

The silhouette of your shoulders fell, and you couldn’t hide the sigh that accompanied it. “It’s alright, Tendo. It’s not that bad.”

You really should have seen that coming, you guessed. The swell of hope and the crash of disappointment was painful in your chest, and you tried to focus on the movie again, ignoring the tempting warmth at your back. If he wasn’t interested, he wasn’t interested. It was cool.

Which was why you jumped when a weight settled over your side, a snicker filtering behind you as he molded himself to your back. It was slow, hesitant, and you would guess he was trying to make sure you were alright with it. Warmth seeped through your t-shirt and you sighed happily, shimmying back into him out of instinct, and this time you could feel his quiet laughter in his chest.

His arms were so long that he had to fold it in front of you, hand coming to rest just underneath your chin, and when you relaxed so did he. With his chin resting atop your head now, he asked, “Better? This is what you wanted, right?”

“Shut up,” you whined, hiding your face in your hand. It was embarrassing enough without him having to tease you about it. But you supposed it wouldn’t be Tendo if he didn’t make fun of you for everything. It was so easy after that to focus on the movie, now that you had gotten what you wanted. The snacks lay forgotten near your feet, not wanting to move and mess up the delicate balance that was now between the two of you.

It was tenuous and any small movement from either of you could send it toppling in either direction, and you weren’t even sure what it depended on. You knew for sure which way you would like to see it go, but it was just as comfortable the way it was.

Silence fell again until the movie ended, which was the only reason you moved. You could probably have fallen asleep like that, but you weren’t ready yet, wanting to bask in whatever you had with Tendo for a while longer.

When you sat up to change the next movie, Tendo rolled over onto his back, watching you fiddle around with it. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck and he shifted uncomfortably. Seemed you felt the same because you turned to look at him, an apology written on your face.

“Sorry, do you mind if I go change into shorts. It’s actually too warm for these now,” you said, setting the DVD case back on the pile. You felt like you were suffocating in your thick winter leggings now, but if he wasn’t okay with that then you would suffer a little longer. At least until you melted.

“Oh thank god you said something. I was about to die in these sweatpants, I swear,” he answered, fanning his face with his hand. You were pretty sure he was just exaggerating that though. “I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“Nope,” you said, popping the ‘p’, and crawled towards the escape flap, wincing at the sound of crunching and crinkling under your knees all of a sudden. “Oops.”

“Oh those had better not have been mine,” he whined, flashing the light of his phone towards the bag. He groaned, seeing his bag of doritos crushed. He could hear you snicker outside the sheet as you walked away and growled, “Watch it. Yours are still in here, _____.”

You opened a drawer as he finally came out as well and began rifling through his bag, pulling out the pair of shorts he’d packed. When you turned around with a pair of soft shorts in your hands, you found him standing awkwardly in the middle of your room again and laughed. “I’ll go change in the bathroom. I gotta use it anyway. I’ll be right back.”

Your footsteps receded down the hall and he raced to get changed before you came back. His sweats landed on his backpack and he shrugged at himself. What did it matter, so long as they weren’t on your floor?

The sound of the sink reached his ears just as he was climbing back into the fort, frowning at his crushed chips even as he shoved a handful into his mouth. He was so gonna make you pay for a new bag, especially because you had laughed. The door creaked open and the flap shifted, and he almost choked on his chips as he realized just how short your shorts were. Were your legs always that long? And smooth? And pretty? Shit.

“How are your chip fragments?” you joked as you made yourself comfortable beside him again. Your hair fanned out behind you and you gathered it up off the base of your neck, twisting it around so that it spread out above you instead. How the fuck was the back of your neck sexy*? 

He was so screwed.

“Uh,” he replied. Smooth, Satori. Shaking his head, he tried to gather his thoughts and focus them literally anywhere else. It worked. Sort of. “Pointy. You owe me a new bag.”

You scoffed, smiling at the car full of vacationing teenagers on the laptop. “There’s like four other bags in here. Quit whining.”

But he wasn’t giving it up, throwing his bag into the corner and hopefully out of the way of your carelessness. Settling behind you like he had before, he once again left space between you, afraid now of how his body might react if he didn’t. “No, all of them suck.”

You definitely noticed the gap and wondered if he was just waiting for you to take the initiative, so you did. Before he could blink, you were once again molded to his chest, head tucked under his chin and knees folded around his. He tensed, fingers curling into a fist while he willed himself to chill.

His arm came down around you again, but you could feel how stiff he was. When you made to move forward again, to give him space, his arm locked, even pulling you back again and you grinned. With his arm now lit up properly by the light of the laptop, you realized you could see the tattoos more clearly, and began to trace the stars and fish on his arm.

“Aren’t these the spirit fish from Avatar?” you asked, skimming over the white and black koi. It was a watercolor piece, lacking the heavy lines like the ones on his other arm, and you felt him nod against the top of your head. “They’re gorgeous. Who’s your artist?”

“A friend of mine in Miyagi did those,” he answered, watching you continue to trail up his arms. Goosebumps were raising the fine hairs all over his body, your touches so gentle and intimate, your focus rapt. Higher up near his elbow was what appeared to be two jolly rogers, but they weren’t the normal ones. “Those are from a pirate manga I read in Jump,” he said before you could ask, and you smoothed your hand over them before sliding it back up near his hand.

His heart skipped a beat when your fingers curled into his palm, hesitating before you slipped them between his. He was sure you could feel his heart pounding away in his chest, unaware that you couldn’t because yours was racing fast enough that you were lightheaded. Folding his fingers down over your hand locked them together, but you didn’t try to pull away. If anything, you tried to cuddle up closer to him, dragging your hands so that they were pressed to your chest. It was the most intimate thing he had experienced in recent memory and if his heart didn’t slow down it was going to explode.

The movie wasn’t holding his interest and a new question cropped up in his mind, one he had wondered more than once before tonight and he couldn’t figure out why he thought of it now, but he latched onto it because otherwise he really thought he was going to combust. Besides, it would ease some of his insecurity if he got an answer.

“What took you so long to set this up, anyway? I kind of thought you had changed your mind for a while,” he said, staring at the screen. He was sort of taking it in, an anchor point so he didn’t get lost in his thoughts.

Your chest rumbled against his hand when you hummed, and your answer was so mundane and rational that he almost laughed. “Well a part of it was wanting to get to know you a bit before we did this. Didn’t want to invite a total stranger to spend the night, after all. And then it was just a matter of waiting for my roommates to freakin’ leave.”

“Oh, are your roommates actually gone*?” he asked in surprise. He had thought they were just out for the night and would be home-- probably not soon, given the time, but still. “Like, for the weekend?”

You hummed again in agreement, twirling the ends of your hair absently around your fingers. You were locked onto the movie, absorbed as Leatherface chased one of the characters he didn’t care about through the yard. He fell quiet, thinking you wanted to watch uninterrupted, but then you asked, “That’s alright, right? They would have just wanted to join in otherwise and they can’t stand horror movies either, so they would’ve just talked through it.”

Exactly like he was doing, he realized, and his face grew hot. Hopefully he hadn’t already annoyed you. He nodded, responding in a much quieter voice. “It’s fine. Was just surprised, I guess.”

For a while, neither of you said anything and Tendo managed to focus on the movie, feeling you jump and twitch every once in a while at scares you weren’t expecting. Unfortunately, those movements were brushing against areas that he really didn’t need them too and your shorts did nothing to diminish the curve of your ass against him or the slowly growing hard on he was getting. It didn’t help that every time he shifted even a little you would just follow him, as if he wasn’t pinned by your hand holding his.

But shit, if he didn’t move soon he was going to be screwed. The bathroom-- that would get him out of there before he embarrassed the fuck out of himself.

It was too late, though. You flinched and ground your ass back into him and he groaned before he could help it. You froze, he froze, he just really wanted to die.

“I-- Sorry. I’m really sorry,” he said, tugging at his hand to try and escape. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but the best option was probably to leave and transfer to a school in a whole different country. He could already hear your words now, an echo of so many times before, the sting of disappointment a familiar feeling around his heart.

“I’m sorry, Tendo. I just don’t see you that way.”

It was because he was a freak with a weird name and creepy eyes and-- fuck. It was high school all over again, being rejected by someone he genuinely thought liked him only to find out they were using him to get to Ushijima or pretending to as a fucking joke, only this time Ushijima wasn’t around and he had really gotten himself into it by agreeing to any of this.

But you were refusing to let his hand go, holding so tight he thought his fingers might break, saying his name until he came back down from his panicked high.

“Tendo, Tendo, calm down, please,” you were begging. You had rolled onto your back, unable to sit up because you were using both your hands to keep him from jumping up and taking the whole fort down. You could see it on his face when he finally heard you, wide vermillion eyes locking with yours while his heart continued to race.

He remained propped up on his elbow, ready to run at the first opportunity, and you almost felt bad for antagonizing him as much as you had. If you had known your teasing was going to get him this riled up, you would have tried a different tactic-- or not tried it at all. Maybe you had pushed too far too soon, and the skittish look in his pretty eyes worried you that you had ruined it.

“It’s alright, Tendo,” you said, trying to keep your voice quiet and soothing. It felt an awful lot like you were dealing with a wary animal-- like a coyote or a fox. When the insistent tension in his arm faded is when you relaxed your death grip on his fingers. 

The sound of the movie was too loud in the unnatural silence between you, and you rolled over to turn it down. When it was only a background buzz, you turned back to him. He was still staring at you without blinking, his eyes devoid of the panic from earlier but now they were eerily blank.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, deadpan. He flinched when you took his hand again, forehead scrunching in confusion. “I don’t understand. There’s no way you-- What are you doing?”

It was your turn to be confused, pursing your lips at him. He sounded so lost-- and wary again-- like a child. For the first time, you wondered what his childhood had actually been like. He talked an awful lot about Ushiwaka and Semi, and the volleyball club in general, but you heard nothing outside of that. It made you suspicious now.

“What am I doing?” you parroted, finally sitting up. Your joined hands fell into your lap and you stared down at them, petting the back of his hand with your free one. “Do you not want me to?”

His words were stuck in his throat, trapped by the lump there, and he swallowed thickly. His mouth felt like cotton, and he shook his head, croaking out, “It isn’t that. I just don’t understand why.”

“Why what?” you asked, gentle amusement in your voice. There was no teasing, no malicious undertones that he could hear, like you were waiting to spring the final part of the joke on him. And he was listening for it. After years of dealing with it, he had learned to recognize it in people’s words and on their faces. The way their lips would curl and their eyes would narrow just before cruelty would spew from their mouths, he knew the tells and you--

Had none.

There was nothing but open curiosity and nervousness-- and hope. A lot of hope swirled in your eyes and he swallowed again. He was just going to disappoint you. If not tonight then tomorrow, if not tomorrow then next week. It was going to happen--

“Why do you like me? How do you like me? I’m-- weird. And you’re--” He gestured frantically up and down at all of you. You weren’t anything he was-- a freak. With freaky eyes and a freaky name and a freaky personality.

“I-- um,” you said, and you couldn’t help but smile. There was clearly a lot of baggage with him, and his questions made that obvious. It was likely too much to unpack tonight, especially when you were still only just getting to know each other. Reassurance was what he needed, and that was something you could offer on the spot. “You’re funny...and sweet and...very good looking. Your eyes are so pretty. Um, there’s also the fact that you’re the only person who would watch these movies with me, which earns you a lot of points, in my opinion,” you said, tapping your lips as you stared up at the ceiling.

Your face was on fire as you listed things off the top of your head, your throat tight with anxiety as you wondered what he would say in response. They were all surface level things for now, but you knew underneath the armor that there was a lot more to Tendo, and you hoped you had a chance to discover it.

He groaned low in his throat, not from disgust but from a deep seated need to believe you meant those things. His forehead met your shoulder, his fingers squeezing yours. He didn’t fight it when you eased back down, following after you without a word, leaving his face hidden in your neck. He was still trying to gather his thoughts and calm his overworked heart. It would be so easy to reject you and be on his way, to return home and beat himself up for letting himself get too close and too comfortable with you when he knew nothing would come of it.

Except something had come of it and he wasn’t sure what to do now. Semi and Ushijima always told him he was too closed off and that someone was going to come around who actually liked him and his ‘weird ass’ and that he was going to lose that chance because of some stupid high school assholes. Was he though? He wanted to believe you, wanted to trust you, and slowly he relaxed, his stress leaving him in a long, tired exhale.

“You mean it?” he whispered against your neck, and you could feel his lashes tickle your skin when he blinked. His arm was heavy where his hand rested on your stomach, fingers intertwined with yours, and you squeezed his hand as tight as you could.

“I do. I like you and really want a chance to get to know you better,” you whispered back, and it suddenly felt like no one existed but the two of you, protected from everything in the world outside by a few sheets and each other's warmth. There would be things to discuss and hiccups to overcome, but you could worry about those tomorrow. In that moment, all you wanted was to prove to Tendo you wanted him.

Maybe it was your words, whispered softly into the dark, or your hand gripping his for dear life, or the way you let him cling to you like a lifeline, or maybe it was a combination, but when he pulled back from his hiding place and found you staring at him, he slotted his lips against yours without thinking. Your lips parted almost immediately, free hand sliding out from between your bodies to tangle in the close cropped hair at the nape of his neck and you used it to pull yourself closer. 

When your tongue poked out to glide across the seam of his lips, he let you in on a breath, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. His eyes were squeezed shut tight as your tongue met his, praying that what was happening wasn’t a dream, and he wasn’t expecting it when you gasped and pulled away all of a sudden.

His eyes popped open and he stared down at you with panic. “What? Did I do something wrong?”

“I-- forgot you have a tongue ring,” you said, and the laughed. “Fuck, that’s hot.”

He blinked like an owl, eyes wide as he processed your words. It wasn’t something that he had ever expected to hear in his life, let alone from the girl he was half-making out with in a freakin’ pillow fort. He suddenly wondered if his life had turned into a Shounen Jump manga.

“Well, so are you,” he said, and leaned in for another kiss.

It was kind of hot to see him confident and you felt heat pool in your stomach, starting to bleed further down as his tongue slipped into your mouth again. He tasted like the root beer he had been drinking all night, and you couldn’t resist toying with the piercing, swirling your tongue around it and listening to him moan against your mouth. 

Your shirt had ridden up your stomach as you moved around, trying to get closer to him, and neither of you realized it until Tendo’s hand smoothed over your skin. He froze mid-kiss, waiting for your reaction, and was unsurprised when your hand grabbed his.

What he didn’t expect was for you to guide it upwards, letting go when you hit your ribs to cup his cheek. Pulling back just enough that he could speak against your lips, he asked, “Are you sure?”

“Frankly, Tendo,” you said, and kissed him again before you continued, “I haven’t wanted anyone this bad in forever. Even if we wake up tomorrow and change our minds, I am fucking sure right now.”

He groaned, letting his hand hike your shirt up a little higher until his hand cupped under your breast. He wasn’t sure when you had taken your bra off, or maybe you hadn’t been wearing one the whole time, but there was nothing impeding his skin from caressing yours. Your breast was so soft in his hand, topped by a pretty pink nipple that he couldn’t resist pinching. You mewled underneath him, pulling your shirt up to uncover your other breast and he moved to that one, doing the same and feeling your nipple harden at his touch.

“Fuck, you’re so pretty,” he rasped, gazing down the length of your body. Your thighs were clenched, and his hand migrated lower, fingertips skimming over your skin.

The heat that was pooling earlier erupted when they met the waistband of your shorts, but he paused, looking unsure again.

“Tendo, I’ll show you how much I want this,” you whispered and grabbed his hand. He was still hesitant, looking at your face as you slid his hand into your panties, and his eyes widened.

“You’re so wet,” he groaned, his fingers gliding over your soaked lips, spreading your slick all over them. His fingers quickly found your clit, circling it and you squeezed his hand between your thighs, hips jerking. “All because of me? I’m flattered.”

Teasing at your soaked opening, he waited for you to balk but you only twitched, panting against his lips before he sunk one finger in, your walls parting easily. You moaned and he swallowed it in a kiss, his tongue filling your mouth again. It wasn’t long before he was fitting a second finger, crooking them up and grazing your sweet spot, his thumb taking over massaging your clit as he pumped them inside you. Your arousal was already high enough that you could feel your orgasm coming on, and you pulled away to announce it.

“T-Tendo, gonna--” You gasped when he forced them in deeper, a mischievous smirk on his face as he prodded your cervix. “How-- fuck, your fingers are so long,” you whined, toes curling.

“Think you can take one more?” he asked, already fitting the tip of a third finger in. But it was only when you nodded, tears pricking the corners of your eyes that he slipped it in. Your teeth dug into your lip before they parted in a soundless cry.

The coil snapped on the first thrust and he groaned, drinking in your face as he tipped you over the edge. No one had ever cum so prettily for him before and he wanted to see it again. 

But only if you wanted it. His cock throbbed painfully in his shorts when he pulled his fingers from your twitching hole, feeling you shudder against him. Examining his glistening fingers in the screen light, he slid one experimentally into his mouth and moaned. “You taste so good, princess.”

You gasped at the pet name, a warmth unrelated to the one between your legs blooming in your chest. He said it was such reverence that you flushed, hoping he’d say it again at some point. Never had anyone called you that before, at least in that context.

When he laid back down beside you, his erection brushed against your leg and he stifled a groan. He was wearing boxers but the friction against his cock was still a pleasurable sensation. Not as much as your hand might be--

Speaking of hands, he nearly jumped out of his skin when you cupped him, squeezing and kneading up the length of him confined in his clothes. A shaky breath ripped out of him, the result of him barely containing a moan, and his long fingers wrapped around your wrist to stop you.

“That’s alright, _____. You don’t have to--” But you weren’t listening and the pressure felt too good. His head fell back, eyes fluttering closed, content to let you literally massage his dick until you started tugging at his shorts. He stopped you more insistently then, pulling your hand away. “Wait a second. Let me get ‘em off since you’re so eager, princess.”

He pulled his shirt over his head first, because it was getting way too hot in there anyway, and then kicked his shorts and boxers off into the dark corner. His cock bobbed against his stomach as he rolled onto his side again, leaking precum already. 

Your hand was soft against his stomach, roaming over the hard planes of his abs and down further, until it wrapped lightly around his head.

And froze.

“What the-- Tendo, what are those?” you asked in a high pitched, startled tone. Before he could answer, you let go and rolled onto your back, exposing him to the light and you thought for sure you had died and gone to heaven. 

It wasn’t just his arms that were covered in ink. His shoulders, chest, and sides were all covered in it as well, swirls and splashes of color interrupted by splotches of black or white or skin. You could hardly make out what the images were in the flickering, inconsistent light, but you recognized flowers and circles, and on his pec you were pretty sure there was a scene of a lake bathed in moonlight. And as your eyes followed the path of colors down, you landed on the thing that had startled you in the first place.

“Those are--” you breathed, taking his cock into your hand again. There was a ball at the tip, covered in precum, and you knew if you traced down, you would find another just below the crown. Further down on his shaft were five horizontal barbells in a row, and you recognized it as a Jacob’s Ladder. “Fuck me.”

“Gladly,” Tendo quipped and pounced. He settled between your legs and tugged your shorts down over your hips, and you had to hold your legs up to let him pull them the rest of the way off. He was too tall to sit straight up without brushing his head against the ceiling, but he braced back on his arms when you grabbed his shaft again. He groaned when you fondled the ball below his crown, shuddering at the intense pleasure. It was one of the major reasons he’d gotten it- to enhance the sensations. But the feel of your fingers gliding over his tip, gathering the precum and nudging the ball was something else entirely. “Holy shit, that feels amazing.”

His voice sent shivers through you, deep and raspy and way too needy. But you were unsure of what would hurt him, so you kept your touches light, feeling his thighs tense under yours, his fingers squeezing your calves as he let you explore. Before long though, he was pulling your hand away, pinning it down at your side. “Can’t keep that up, princess. I need more, if you’re alright with it,” he said, letting his cock settle against your cunt. 

The piercings were warm and pronounced against your folds, and you shuddered when the ball under his head grazed your clit. The thought of them inside you, rubbing all along your walls as he fucked you was too much and you could feel yourself growing wetter, your pussy drooling for it.

“Yes, Tendo, please. I want it, I want to feel them inside me,” you begged, rocking your hips. The stimulation was mind blowing and your walls clenched, empty and needy for him to fill you up. And he would, his cock was huge-- he still had room for more piercings below the ones he had. You had no doubt you would be stretching to take him and you keened in the back of your throat.

“I want you to call me Satori, princess. And I need you to let me know if it’s uncomfortable,” he said, pressing the tip of his cock into your sopping hole. “Sometimes they make it hurt, but you’re so fucking wet I don’t think it will. You really like these, huh?”

You were really just answering his question as you said yes, but a stream of them fell out of your mouth as he pushed the rest of his cock inside you, encouraging him to continue. The stretch was so good, your walls splitting easily for him, and you could feel every ball just like you had imagined grazing against your walls. The ball at his slit rested snugly against your cervix, and you didn’t even realize you were screaming as you came, hips jerking in his hands as he let you ride it out.

He was staring at you with what could only be awe, his mouth slack and eyes wide with surprise. “Holy fuck, princess, did you just cum?”

Your breaths were coming in pants as your mind spun, trying to come down from the unexpected high. It came on so suddenly you had no time to prepare, and tears slid down your cheeks. “F-Feels so good,” you whispered, fingers digging into the blanket beneath you. “Satori, oh my god.”

“Are you alright? We can stop--” he said, but you shook your head frantically, locking your ankles around his back, and he laughed under his breath. You sure were something else. He knew for a fact no one had ever come just from him sliding into them and a swell of pride filled his chest. “No? Alright, whatever you want, princess. Can I move?”

This time you nodded and he was slow as he pulled back, making sure you were okay. You were so tight around him from your orgasm, your walls fluttering with overstimulation, but your back arched when he stuffed himself back in, a breathy moan slipping out of you. Hiking your legs higher up on his hips, he bent over you, gathering your hands and pinning them above your head, lacing his fingers with yours. His lips met yours as he thrust into you slowly, grinding deep and stifling a moan. Once again you were playing with his tongue ring, flicking it as you suckled on his tongue. The fort-- and probably the room-- was filled with the wet slap of his hips on yours every time he drove his cock into you, drowning out the low buzz of the forgotten movie still playing. He was being careful, waiting for you to stop being so sensitive, and he knew you were ready when you arched into his chest and pulled away.

“So good, Satori,” you murmured against his lips, hips rising to meet his. Your eyes were glazed and fucked out, tears still flowing and you could already feel the start of another orgasm, but he was moving too slow. The drag and pull of his piercings had almost all of your attention, the ball at his tip constantly tapping your cervix, making your toes curl with every thrust. “You’re so big, and those-- fuck-- piercings feel so good inside me. I can feel them all everywhere.”

He snickered darkly at that and kissed your cheek. “You wanna feel even better, kitten?” he whispered into your ear, nipping the shell. He could feel you nod against his cheek, nails digging into his hands where he kept them pinned above your head, and then he was letting them go and pulling out of you. You whined, staring up at him in dismay, but he already had your thighs in his hands, prodding you to roll over. “Trust me, pretty girl. On your stomach, just like that.”

It was a bit difficult to get comfortable, but he grabbed a pillow and jammed it beneath your hips before settling with his legs outside of yours. And when you shook your ass, begging him to hurry up, he couldn’t deny you, not when he wanted to be back inside your tight heat so badly.

“Holyshitholyshitholyshit,” you whined, high-pitched and breathless as he finally filled you again. His thighs trembled as he forced himself not to just stuff himself into you, you were so tight. And the way you were crying and shuddering beneath him wasn’t helping, especially when you gasped his given name like a prayer. “*Satori, oh my god.”

If you thought those piercings felt good before, you were in heaven now. Everyone of them dragged slowly over the front wall of your cunt, grinding into your sweet spot and you had to bite the pillow to keep from outright screaming. And he was so, so, so big inside you, but with your legs trapped between his there was nothing you could do but take him. Against your will, your legs kicked, hitting him in the back as you wailed into the pillow, tears streaming down your cheeks in an endless flood. 

He snarled into your ear as he planted his elbows beside your head, plastering himself to your back. “You are so fucking tight, princess. How do those piercings feel now?”

“So good so good so good,” you babbled, circling your hips back on his dick to get any friction you could. The orgasm that had been building came back ten fold just from him hilting inside of you and you knew that if he fucked you like this you would be cumming in seconds. “‘Tori, please move, please please please.”

Your needy begging made his cock twitch and you whimpered as he slowly pulled out of you and pushed back in, intentionally slow to let you feel everything. The pleasure was ebbing and flowing, building and falling because he wasn’t moving fast enough, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ask him to go faster, not when you could feel him so clearly. Every time he bottomed out, he made sure to grind down into you, nudging your cervix with the tip of his cock so he could feel you clench suddenly around him. It never failed to make him moan, your slick walls gripping him so tightly as he dragged himself back out. He wanted to make your pussy his new home and barring that he was going to fuck the shape of his cock into you.

“Tell me what you need to make you cum, princess,” he whispered into your ear. He knew what he needed, but he was still learning what would make you feel good. 

Releasing the pillow from your teeth, the first thing you did was moan out his name again as he buried himself inside you again. You were so close to cumming, your clit throbbing with need and if he even brushed it you were going to be gushing all over him. You gasped as he thrust a little harder than before.

“If you don’t answer me I’ll just keep going like this, kitten. I can go for hours, if you want,” he whispered, warm against your ear. That made you twitch underneath him, and he chuckled. “You like the sound of that? We’ll try it another time. Right now, I need you to tell me where you want me to cum and how I can make you cum, okay?”

His words were dark and sweet and coaxing, and you were sure you had never whined so much in your whole life. “Touch me, please, Satori. I wanna cum all over your cock and pretty piercings while you cum in me, oh fuck.”

Bracing himself on his elbow, he forced his hand beneath your stomach, aided by you lifting your hips, and you whimpered when he finally, finally brushed your clit. It was all it took and you had to bite the pillow again as you creamed all over his cock, whiting out and screaming into it as you shuddered and jerked. He eased you through it, leaving his cock buried inside you while he fondled your clit, listening to you whimper and moan. It was a good thing you had hidden your face because you would surely have woken the whole complex up otherwise. 

He groaned into your ear as you massaged his cock, so tight that you launched him into his own orgasm, cumming inside you as you had asked. He remained still inside of you even after you had relaxed, leaving small kisses all over your hair before he leaned down to rest his head on the pillow. He had fucked you so slowly that he hadn’t broken a sweat, and yet he was still out of breath and panting. His head swam for several more minutes, until you shifted beneath him. But you didn’t move like you wanted him to get off.

Instead, you turned to look at him, a lazy, blissed out grin on your face and said, “Holy shit, that was so amazing. I’ve never cum so many times.”

“So were you. I’ve never made someone cum so many times,” he admitted, and replayed the way you came just because he had filled you. That was something he was unlikely to ever forget. He brushed some hair out of your face before leaning in to kiss you. It was slow and gentle, belying how tired the two of you now were, and he could see you were ready to fall asleep. “Gonna pull out of you now, princess. Need you to stay nice and relaxed, okay?”

You nodded, your eyes closing and winced as he slid from your ruined hole. A stream of cum followed after and he took a moment to appreciate it, allowing a smirk to steal across his face. There was no doubt you were his now, at least for a little while, and he committed it all to memory before gently gripping your shoulders. “We should really get cleaned up, then we can go to sleep.”

You grumbled cutely but let him help you up, the both of you stumbling blindly to the bathroom. Sleepiness was a thick fog, and you got cleaned up as quickly as possible before returning to the room. The two of you stood in the doorway, looking at the mess of nonsense covering the bed, and then you looked at Tendou.

“Let’s just sleep in there,” you suggested, taking him by the hand. He let you lead him over, watching the way your ass swayed as you crawled into the fort for hopefully the final time that night. In the few minutes it had taken him to get in after you, you had already pulled a blanket over your legs and were setting up the next movie to play. Not that you would be watching it, but he understood it was the principle of the thing. This was a movie marathon and it just wouldn’t do to fall asleep without being in the middle of one.

Once he’d gotten comfortable behind you, you rolled over and splayed out across his chest, startling him. He had expected to curl himself around your back while you went to sleep, but now you were tracing what lines you could see on his chest in the thin light. His hand rested on your waist, the other tucked behind his head, and he closed his eyes, comfortable with your warmth and weight in his arms.

“Satori,” you murmured, your hand falling flat right over the picture of the lake. “I really do like you.”

He laughed at that, and you could feel it rumble in your ear, deep in his chest. He was clearly as tired as you were, but you needed to say it. There was something in your half asleep brain that would not stop telling you to say it, and you were in no position to fight it.

“I figured as much, princess. Three orgasms are hard to fake, especially around a dick as big as mine,” he answered, and you blanched for a moment before erupting into laughter. He watched you through narrow eyes, fondness bubbling in his chest, until you settled back down against him. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, you know that?”

“So’re you,” you murmured. The nagging had stopped now that you had said what you needed too, and you were falling asleep quickly. “Don’t be gone when I wake up tomorrow, okay?”

“It already is tomorrow, and I’ll be here. There’s nowhere else I wanna be anyway,” he answered, letting his eyes close as well. With your comfortable weight on his chest and your even breathing mixing with the buzzing of the movie in the background in his ears, he drifted to sleep in no time, for once not worrying about what tomorrow would bring.

⇥ masterlist 

⇥ taglist: @visaintes​, @kunimwuah​

[doomstypewriter]

Excuse me while I panic

Hi, I'm back from finals, but my brain is kind of dead right now, so enjoy this silly two-shot in the meantime.

Word count: 996 | AO3

Summary: Roman needs to get on with the program, realise his crush on Virgil and ask him out, because it's getting ridiculous.

At least Janus thinks so. Everybody does.

A wild crush has appeared, except it was there all along, Roman is just dumb <3

“It’d be a pity if you got over yourself and told Virgil you loved him already. Not that I care about his happiness or anything”.

Roman turned to face the back of the room, where Janus was sitting with a lap full of Patton, who just shrugged in agreement with a quizzical smile.

The treacherous acceptance Patton showed after Janus’ out-of-the-blue comment almost made Roman gasp.

“I just said I want to hang out with him this week”.

“And marry him the month after that, I suppose” Janus retorted.

“Okay, first of all, nah-uh, and second of all, I’d have expected this outright attack for you, but, Patton, are you going to stand watching him bullying me?!”

Just when he was about to reply, Janus intervened again, pretending to be distracted playing with Patton’s curls.

“Not quite, let me rephrase that for you: bullying you into getting ahead in life”.

“Hello?” Roman gestured at himself, only to feel even more increpated by Janus’ glancing at him up and down. “I’m dashing at all times, it’s you who should be putting in the effort”.

As per usual, Janus smirked, unimpressed. He ran a finger, scratching lightly, up Patton’s neck. Underneath the cardigan, a pair of shoulders rolled in a contained shudder.

“I already have. You, though, have achieved nothing. Also, why am I detecting” Janus said, raising a hand to cup behind his ear, “a hint of defensiveness? Honestly… well… as honestly as the budget allows, I am saying this for your sake. Take notes or something, Roman”.

Roman’s weight shifted from one leg to the other, he crossed his arms and gasped, for real this time.

“Excuse me?”

“Excused. I’ll dictate it for you: number one, dot, Janus has made me realise my lack of ambition, comma, I will ask Virgil out”. Janus changed the tone for a second, considering. “Hmmm… let’s say, at once, sounds very you, doesn’t it? Blah, blah, no ambition, I’m very dim, I will ask Virgil out at once, full stop. New paragraph: number two, dot, from now on, comma, I shall listen to Janus’ advice, comma, because he’s so right all the time, full stop”.

Once Roman came out of his astonishment, he closed his gaping mouth and pursed his lips like a child.

“Okay, that’s it, you did this. I’m calling the nerd”.

Janus had no time to complain, as Logan was summoned immediately thereafter.

“Lo, are you okay?!” Patton stirred in place after seeing Logan’s looks.

There, in all bizarre glory, stood Logan, draped in a lab coat with some unidentified stains, knee-length black rubber boots, safety glasses with what dangerously looked like a speckle of blood and a pair of gloves holding a scalpel.

“Don’t worry Patton, he’s just been playing with Remus” Janus offered.

Logan examined the room quickly, then cleared up his throat and blinked himself into his usual attire.

“I was in the middle of something”.

“Clearly” Roman muttered sarcastically.

“What do you need?” Logan made a point to ignore Roman’s comment.

Janus smiled calmly.

“Roman just called you so you can prove him wrong”.

Before the prince could retort, Logan nodded with a vague hint of amusement.

“Well, I can certainly do that”.

“You won’t need to, because it’s him who’s saying” Roman paused and endeavoured to make his best impression of Logan, “falsehoods”.

Logan frowned and crossed his arms.

“That is to be expected, so what is the context?”

“He says I need to ask Virgil out because he’s always right”.

Roman went on saying something along the lines of ‘like, I like Virgil, but not like that. And he’s just implying I’m in love with him, and I would know because, hi, Roman, romance? And Patton isn’t even defending me!’. All of that, Logan didn’t listen to, deciding to speak plainly.

“That’s incorrect, Janus gets things wrong often, it is, in fact, a statistical improbability to be right all the time. But, to be fair, out of all of you, he holds a higher average”.

“Exactly, that’s what I said” Roman shook his hand forward as if to underline how justified he felt. A moment later he went quiet. “Wait…”

“No need. I’ll finish dispatching this soon. So, no, Janus is not always right, but you would do well to heed to his advice on this occasion, seeing how it would help resolve your feelings for Virgil”.

“What?”

“Thank you, Logan” Janus said.

Logan nodded, satisfied with a good job.

“No need, happy to help”.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Roman exclaimed. “I have no feelings for Virgil…” he reconsidered, “not like that!”

In a quick save, Logan hid his laugh with a frown and an inhale.

“Excellent example of being wrong, you’ll be a great help to Logan’s statistics” Janus grinned.

Everybody was looking at him.

Normally, he’d like that, because it was the natural order of things. At the present time, though, he felt paralysed by a sudden onslaught of contradicting feelings and thoughts. Unfortunately, all of these things running through his mind popped in and out too fast for him to process them as more than a jumble of nonsense.

That is to say, he drew a complete blank, cursing his ADHD.

“But-but… I’m not in” he started slowly, trying to organise his ideas.

Then, went down with the first thing to come out of his mouth because working under pressure is not his thing.

“Like, I spend a ton of time with him, but what do you know? And, honestly, you’re just jealous Virge pays more attention to me because he’s almost as great as me. By the way, Janus steals your crofters when you don’t look, someone has to say it, because we’re outing people’s secrets, except not mine’s ‘cause I’m not in love with…”

Patton stood up, knowing he’d have to help everyone brace themselves.

All at the same time, the following was spoken or shouted:

“Snitch!”

“He did what?!”

“Oh my... I’m in love with Virgil”

Next>>

Thx for reading. Reblog or comment if it made you laugh <3

Taglist: COME AT ME BRO, COME AT ME, write a comment and tell me to tag you for the next chapter, I DARE YOU /nm /lh /j

[avatarvyakara]

Another little bit—this time a touch of father-daughter bonding, hopefully a bit less gloomy than the last...

167. Desarrollo

(nm) development, growth

She doesn’t get to spend as much time with her Pá as she’d like. Back when she was younger, they used to do piano lessons, before Luisa came to think of the instrument as a movable object instead of a source of music. And she’d like to start them again; she likes the piano. But her Pá is busy even if she’s learning how to take some time off, and just like with Mirabel and Antonio and Camilo, just like with the Grown-Ups, just like with Lio, Luisa Does Not Distract.

(Shut up, imagination. If you’re going to behave like that, I’m leaving you at home. ...in my room. In a safe. Under a rock.)

But there’s still time—more time, somehow, these days—to pop by the factoría around lunchtime to see Pá and take him something from home. Today it’s just some fruit, but Luisa’s found that if she doesn’t persuade him and her mother to eat then, well, they don’t eat. Which isn’t good for either of them at their age.

(...little nagging voice of self-care, do I have to leave you at home too? I eat lunch. A lot of the time. Once or twice a month at least.)

There isn’t much in the way of banking in San Ambrosio. Oh, the factoría does have a few families’ money stored safely away, most of it actually belonging to Tío Félix’s and Mariano’s families (and maybe hers too), but most people prefer to keep their centavos and pesos hidden under the mattress.

What the factoría mainly does is exchange favours.

“¡Hey chaparrita!” calls her father happily from inside through the window.

“Hey Pá,” she replies with a smile, ducking through the doorway into the surprisingly crowded office, Cerbero hot on her heels. “Another deal?”

“Just some trouble with the Salazars again, they’re complaining about the price of iron again. Madre de Dios, Arcadio, it’s not like it’s anyone’s fault. But it’s been cutting into their savings, and since—thank God—nobody can make iron appear out of thin air they want to include the price of the stuff in whatever they make.” Pá looks surprisingly tired behind a mountain of papers and one rusty horseshoe. “Ay, Luisa, word of advice: never get a blacksmith started on ‘artisan workmanship’. It will make your entire morning pass like a week.”

Luisa clucks sympathetically. Cerbero has found himself a nice patch of sunlight to flop down in and pant happily, and she strokes the fino hound’s ears. “So what did you do?”

“I mean, it seems reasonable to charge a little more, or maybe to import the iron directly to the village as one of the bulk goods. We can talk to the heads of the families about that, and I think there’s a good case for it. But Arcadio wasn’t listening, so I told him that he should take it up with your Tío Félix.”

“He’s not going to be very happy with you,” she teases.

“I think I’ll survive. ...probably.”

She snorts. Mind you, Arcadio Salazar probably will be a lot more willing to negotiate with Tío Félix. Her parents are good at providing essentials, practical solutions. Just like her. But Tío Félix dabbles in words and emotions, delights in making people get along well, and has a reputation of absolute honesty.

(She knows her uncle feels guilty about his reaction to her other tío’s Gift. If Félix Madrigal thought Bruno’s visions were bad luck, didn’t that just confirm what everyone already knew?)

Anyway, that’s probably that.

But...

“What if that doesn’t work?”

“Then your tío will send him up to Abuela.”

“Ouch.”

Pá raises an eyebrow, but bursts out laughing before Luisa has time to feel worried about doing something wrong. He’s good like that, her Pá.

She thinks about the issue. “Didn’t Tío Bruno say something about a tunnel on the edge of the encanto? Something he found when he was younger.”

Why does her father’s face droop a little at that?

“I think I know what you mean. Your uncle found it with a friend of his. What’s the thought, Luisa?”

“I’m just thinking...have we ever tried mining our own iron? Maybe that’s what the tunnels were for.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure, chaparrita. It’s a big job, and it couldn’t be done by one person alone.” He grins, and looks at her pointedly over the top of his glasses. “Or maybe the better way to say it is that it shouldn’t be done by one person.”

“I wasn’t gonna go all on my own,” she protests.

She does not need her dog to give her a deadpan look worthy of a donkey, thank you very much. She gets enough of those from her father.

“Hmmmmmm. Well, alright. But it’s worth looking into. We don’t want to disturb too much of the hills, though...hmm...”

He brightens up. “Ah, something for later.”

Cerbero chooses this moment to climb up onto her lap, tongue out and tail wagging.

“Cerbero, come on.”

“Buenas Dias, Cerbero,” chuckles Pá. “Excellent timing.”

Cerbero barks happily.

“Anyway, what’s been going on in El Mundo sobre las nubes?”

“Páááá...” she groans at the mention of her childhood dream-world, but smiles all the same. “I’m twenty-one years old, I’m too big for living in a fairy tale world now.”

“Corazón, I hope that never ever happens,” says her father sincerely. Then he laughs. “Especially given where we live.”

She laughs too.

Her own day’s been full of boring stuff, just regular chores and the like. (“He wanted you to carry what?”) And Pá’s got another meeting with the Acostas about getting their coffee into the “brand-new” San Cristóbal market. (“Definitely gonna need to bring Abuela in on this one, Pá.”) But it’s nice to have a chance to stop and chat. Even if he does insist on playing that silly game where she has to eat a piece of food before he’ll eat one, and he doesn’t count the pieces Cerbero “takes”. It’s not like she needs it.

...but maybe she needs it.

(Abuela never disapproved of this. Never. But Luisa felt, for a time, just a little ashamed of how much of her father’s time and her village’s time she was taking up this way. Luisa Does Not Distract, after all. And so she stopped by less and less, even if she felt guilty about it.

Now, though...things are different now.)

[rrazor]

lactose | o. tooru, i. hajime, m. issei, h. takahiro

tags: nsfw (group)

>> (04:37) r u done >> (04:37) emergency >> (04:37) pls come back asap >> (04:38) u aren’t gonna believe this

slipping your phone back into your pocket, frown on your face, you glance over at the boba shop worker putting your order together.

“thank you so much!” you grab the bag and shift it in your hands.

he smiles. “have a good day!”

you return the polite sentiment and rush back to your place, doing your best to not jostle the bag too much.

“hello?” you call, breathing a little too heavily, setting down the bag on the living room’s coffee table.

your sister spots you and calls your name.

“hey, what’s—?”

walking along behind her are your fellow third years, looking up, yes up, at you with glittery doe eyes, mochi-like cheeks and itty bitty statures to match.

“what the fu—.”

“zip it.”

you clamp your mouth shut.

“kya!” tooru, all fluffy hair and soft skin, runs up to your legs, giving them a tight hug. hajime, not wanting to be beaten, runs up too, rubbing his cheek against them.

“hey,” you laugh softly, squatting down to hug them both.

takahiro eyes sparkle and makes his way to you too with issei a teensy step behind. you give them all a big hug before looking up at your sister again.

“what happened here?”

“the whiny one was sharing some handmade cookies a fan of his made.”

“you mean tooru? did you eat any?”

she nods. “they were pretty good actually. but only the guys got hit.”

you look at them again, all soft smiles in your arms. you know that if kyoutani was here, he’d mutter “good” and then walk away. you almost snort aloud at the thought.

“ouh!” takahiro chirps, pointing up at the bag on the table.

“well, i guess we might as well feed them,” you laugh. your sister unpacks the drinks and grabs hers as you help the babies get their drinks set up in front of them. it’s kinda funny and ridiculously cute—the drinks are half their size when usually, the cups would look small in their large hands.

“i gotta head over to kii-chain’s house for a group project. will you be okay on your own?”

“probably?”

she nods and heads out the door but not before reminding you to text her in case something comes up.

there goes your afternoon of studying.

takahiro stands up in front of his drink as you hold it for him. he dips in his head to take a sip and you wanna cry-laugh at how his little arms are angled back behind him as his tiny lips form the cutest pout.

“mm!!” he hums, chewing at the pearls, eyes closed in satisfaction. you laugh, kissing his cheek. he giggles and puts his tiny hands on his cheeks and you can’t help but think he looks like a little peach.

hajime pulls on your sleeve. “buu?”

you insert his straw for him and bring him onto your left thigh as he holds onto the cup and sips away, looking up at you silently with glittery eyes as he does. you hum, kissing him on his right cheek. “the aloe tastes good, doesn’t it?”

“num!” he nods, smiling at you. ah, the world’s cutest porcupine.

issei crawls in between your legs and plops himself down, looking up at you. you smile and steady takahiro on your right first—he’s still leaning up and down, drinking like a bird toy. you grab issei’s boba and bring it down in front of him, angling the straw towards his pout.

“you want some? it’s good, sweetie.”

he nods, blushing slightly as he holds onto the drink with his tiny hands, taking a sip and looking you in the eye as he does so.

“good?”

“poo,” he mumbles with a soft smile.

you bite your tongue to keep yourself from laughing and kiss his forehead instead. you tickle his chin, loving the little laughs tumbling out of his lips.

“humnnn!!” tooru thrashes his arms, patting your shin. his pretty forehead creased with how you were ignoring him.

“tooru, this one’s yours.” you set his drink in front of him and tooru grabs it and scoots in closer to issei, forcing you to widen the space between your legs.

you steady takahiro to your right and help him sit down, not wanting to topple over him.

“nn?” he looks at you.

brushing through his short bangs, you smile at him. “sitting, okay?”

he nods, matching your smile before going back to sipping at his boba.

“fuu!” tooru pouts, patting at your chest in protest.

“okay, okay, what is it, your highness?”

you pick up his drink and urge him to drink, hoping it smoothes the frown lines on his forehead. it does—roasted milk tea and black sugar bringing a soft smile on his face.

“weehee!”

you huff a laugh at the sound, brushing through his soft bouncy hair.

“aum?” takahiro points to your drink left on the coffee table.

“s’okay. i’ll just have it later.”

he hums as you pat at his head.

but, what were you going to do now? you look at all of them. hard to say, really. the history textbooks didn’t have any example contingency strategies on situations like this and neither do you so the internal thought process ends there because there’s no point really thinking about it at this point.

takahiro is the first to have his fill of his sweet drink. leaving his drink on the floor, he turns around to cuddle into your chest. you rub at his back and pat his chest, burping him just in case he needed it. issei is next. he curls himself into you as you bring your hand around his back. before long, tooru pops off his straw and exhales in satisfaction. he scooches next to issei and buries his head in your chest too. and finally: “fuu,” hajime exhales. he lets go of his drink and it starts its fall onto the floor, but you grab it in time, sighing in relief.

hajime nuzzles his head into your chest and you swoon at all the affection they’re giving you. you fawn over them and can’t resist the temptation of kissing their little hair whorls.

“hyeh?” takahiro looks up, hands on his head. tooru thinks it tickles and coos. issei and hajime knock heads as they look up at you.

“oh!” you rub their foreheads and leave kisses on them to circumvent any tears. they look at each other and blush.

“un!” tooru begs, making grabby hands up at you.

so you spend the next little while tickling and lavishing affection on the little ones, relishing in their coos and giggles, cheeks pink and broad smiles on their faces before a thought pops into your head.

“do you guys want popcorn?”

the babies immediately look up at you with a sharp glimmer in their eyes. you get up after setting the hajime on the floor and grab the large bag of popcorn from your kitchen cabinets.

“pop! pop!” takahiro chirps.

“pop!” tooru giggles.

everyone’s given their own mini mountain of popcorn. tooru squeals in glee, soft brown curls bouncing with the motion. he picks up a handful and drops it in yours.

“pop! pop!” he babbles.

“nm!” issei does the same with hajime and takahiro following along. it spills and ends up all over your lap.

“oh, thank you!”

as the boys eat with the popcorn, you clean up the mess of notes and textbooks on the table, not wanting them to get dirty or stained. your exams are still next week, so it was fine, right? right?

a piece of popcorn lands on the table. you turn around to see them throwing it at each other—takahiro and tooru use it as projectiles while issei and hajime are trying to throw them into each other’s mouth.

“bwah!” takahiro kicks his leg back to throw and ends up knocking over his drink. luckily, you manage to catch it, sighing in relief once more as you set it on the table.

unfortunately, this time, relief doesn’t last long because tooru tips his over and spills it, soaking the leg of your pants and getting it over hajime, who’s sitting on the floor. his pants seep the liquid in and he starts sniffling at the cold sensation.

tooru starts crying too after seeing the aftermath of his fumble, wailing as tears stream over his cheeks.

“oh!” you pull tooru onto the couch, where he pushes his face into the arm rest and bawls. takahiro and issei are ushered over to another spot on the floor as you pick up hajime. his little hands tighten into fists in your shirt as he does his best to not cry. soft sobs slip out of his wobbling lower lip as you stand up and pat at his back.

“hey, we’ll go and get you cleaned up, okay?”

“mm?” issei looks up at you, pouting at the thought of being left behind. takahiro comes to grab you too and tooru looks up from the couch, fat tears swimming in his pretty eyes. the look of fear on their faces and the thought of leaving them here alone doesn’t settle well in your stomach so you decide to just bathe all of them.

“let’s all go together?”

“mm!” takahiro nods.

you look over at tooru, beckoning him over. “you too, tooru.”

he smiles a little and bumbles over to you.

you somehow manage to get all of them into the washroom, running the water immediately, waiting for the hot water as you strip the babies of their clothes.

“wrr,” takahiro mumbles.

“you’ll be warm soon enough,” you soothe.

you plug the tub and adjust the water’s temperature as it begins to fill up. tooru and hajime sniffle as they sit down. issei pats at the water’s surface, giggling. you’re glad none of them are afraid of the water.

“hajime, tooru,” you coo, patting at the water with issei. “it’s fun you see?”

hajime mimics you and starts babbling in excitement. tooru follows soon after. with the water up to their ribs, the boys start playing in the water, having forgotten about the crying.

“oh, thank god,” you sigh, wiping at your forehead.

“pish, pish!” issei splashes himself with the water, a cute smile on his face. you giggle softly and cup his cheek, thumb brushing his soft little eyebrows.

“having fun?”

he coos.

you grab your hypoallergenic, sensitive skin body soap; takahiro’s sensitive skin didn’t handle fragrances nor sulfates well. you lather it into a towel and bend over the tub to clean hajime first.

“kya!” tooru giggles and splashes the water, getting it all over you.

“hey, tooru!” you bring up your arm to block his attacks, but it’s all in vain when the others, including hajime, gang up on you.

“guys!”

doing your best to block the water, you grab the shower head and turn on the water, splashing them in their little faces.

“pwah!” hajime sputters.

“pbbbt!” takahiro shakes his head.

tooru laughs and pats at his cheeks in delight and issei coos at the sheer fun of it all. you laugh along with them, brushing the water off your face and wringing your t-shirt.

“c’mon, let’s get back—.”

a cloud of smoke envelopes the entirety of the bathroom, leaving you coughing as you try to fan it away.

issei raises a brow. “oh?”

you open your eyes. cramped into the bathtub are the four of them in their original sizes, looking at you. “oh,” you say, thoughts escaping you. “well, that was quick.”

tooru pushes his bangs back. “and what were you doing?” he trills.

you roll your eyes. “well, someone just had to spill their bubble tea all over my living room floor.”

takahiro snickers, climbing out of the tub and you close your eyes and huff, turning your chin away and doing your best to act indifferent towards his nude, muscular physique. the other three follow him out and soon, you’re surrounded by a cage of muscle and oozing sex appeal.

you pout, blush high on your cheeks as your thighs clench together. it should be illegal for them to look that good. “what are you guys doing?”

“taking care of you,” hajime states nonchalantly, stripping you of your track pants and panties, throwing them to the side before propping your legs over his thighs. your shirt and bra quickly follow suit.

“wh—?” did they retain their memories? but your thoughts are cut off with a breathy gasp as hajime trails a finger over your folds before promptly eating you out.

takahiro smirks at your cute reaction before seeing the bottle of body soap on the bathroom floor.

“you use this stuff?”

you swallow, leaning back into issei’s broad chest as he gropes your breasts and tweaks your nipples. “well—shit—you’re allergic to all the other stuff, so—!”

takahiro hums, heart thrumming with your endearing consideration for him. he brings your hand up to kiss at the back of your hand. “thanks, princess.”

tooru chuckles, eyeing all the skincare products he’s left on your bathroom counter. “you’re such a good girl,” he coos, bringing you in for a kiss.

“isn’t she?” issei drawls lowly next to your ear as you whimper into oikawa’s mouth, remembering the pile of his clothes in your closet.

“fucking sweet pussy, too,” hajime grunts, sucking on your clit, trying to match the effort you put into massaging his sore muscles after each practice.

your breath hitches and tooru gladly swallows all of your moans. you can feel issei grind up against your back and when you pull back to breathe, all the air is taken from you with the way they’re looking at you.

“well then,” oikawa smirks. “let’s get started, pretty girl.”

[syrups-fanfic-cafe]

Can I request to take 🐺 as an anon marker? Also, I was wondering if you were familiar with Miraculous Ladybug?

Here’s my (actual) request tho! Could you do some Monika x Natsuki (Doki Doki Lit Club) headcanons? And maybe some Yuri x Natsuki ones? (If you aren’t able to do both I totally understand /gen /nm)

Thanks Syrup! You’re the best!!

Of course you can have that marker! And Sorry anon, but I don’t do Maraculous Ladybug, but I hope you like That Natsuri and Monisuki headcanons! And your welcome! I always try to make my requests as good as I can - Mod Syrup

Monisuki and Natsuri headcanons

Monisuki

After a few weeks in the literature club, Monika and Natsuki had become rather close, Monika slowly began to understand why Natsuki was the way she as, slowly learning about her home situation the more time they spent together.

Monika started packing snacks for Natsuki when she learned she wasn’t able to get her own lunch at school, giving her one everyday before their club meetings or whenever she see’s her at lunch.

Eventually, Monika starts inviting Natsuki over to eat dinner at her house. Natsuki was a bit nervous at first, but eventually caved in and agreed to go once a week, which then turned into every other week, which then turned into anytime Natsuki felt comfortable eating there.

Natsuki didn’t want to burden Monika too much by eating over there too much, but Monika’s parents reassured her that they were absolutely fine with Natsuki joining them if she wants to, they even started gaining a habit of setting up a spot at the table for her.

Natsuki was the first to catch feelings, and she couldn’t handle this at all. She was terrified that her father was gonna find out. Who knows what he would do if he found out she fell in love with another girl? He already wasn’t the kindest to her, and if he found out about this?

So, her solution? Tsundere levels to the max.

she started being much ruder to Monika than before, going over her house to eat less and less, and even just stopping entirely. But she found that the more she distanced herself from Monika, the more she felt herself falling more I love with her, which just made her feel worse.

Natsuki happened to accidentally confess when Monika confronted her about her change in behaviors and they got into an arguement. It was the mid arguement “Because I love you ok?!” Type of confession too.

Natsuki couldn’t help but feel herself become embarrassed as she started stumbling over her own words, realizing what she just said. Now she really screwed herself over, Monika surely had to hate her now.

”Oh Natsuki, why didn’t you just say so sooner?!” Monika said, giggling slightly as she smiled down at Natsuki, before hugging her tightly, before exclaiming “I love you too!”

Natsuki couldn’t help but blush and burry her face in Monika’s chest before stuttering out “Shut up, it’s not like I wanted you to live me back! I was just saying!”

Monika simply giggled before pulling away from Natsuki, letting her wander back off to read her manga. Monika made a mental note of Natsuki’s behavior changes at to make sure that Natsuki got fed everyday she could. It’s the least she could do if it meant keeping Natsuki safe and healthy.

Natsuri

No matter how much they would relate to eachother, Natsuki and Yuri always had some sort of disagreement. But oddley enough, they were always seen as the closest to in the club.

They always seems to be he ones to bond over eachothers emotions and thoughts, and could often be seen hanging out together, bonding over reading and stuff.

Natsuki, again, upon realizing her feelings was terrified of what her father would think. Though this time she knew she couldn’t just distance herself from Yuri, that would hurt Yuri too much, especially sense to her, they only had each other to rely on.

So instead, Natsuki became more quite and closed off, not distancing herself, but not exactly getting closer to Her. Yuri didn’t notice this change until maybe a week or so, in which she herself started developing feelings for Natsuki.

Yuri was of course the one to confess, sneaking a love poem into her manga collection that when summerized, ask Natsuki if they wanted to hang out outside of school sometimes as a date of sorts, with “yes or no” checkboxes at the bottom.

When Natsuki found it, she was hesitant to respond, but eventually did, throwing the peice of paper around a corner at Yuri, a red check in the yes box. She would’ve given the note or responded to Yuri in person, but she was still trying to come to terms with her own feelings.

This became how they communicated for a short while, Leaving Notes for eachother usually in the sequence of Yuri leaving the first note, and Natsuki throwing it back at her with the answer written in it.

It took quite awhile for them to actually start verbally talking to eachother again, and even longer after that for them to actually start dating. Of course, they never told the other club members about this, they felt a bit too embarrassed to tell them, and it’s not like they needed to know right.

Though that wouldn’t really matter as Sayori and Monika had thought the two were dating way before they actually got together.

[evertriedsoywithyourpopcorn]

5 Reasons Roman Is Infuriating (And Why I DO NOT have a crush on him)

Chapter 4: A Date With Destiny

Read on AO3 Chapter 1

Word count:  2991

Tw: Food, Almost an innuendo, Fear of not being accepted for orientation

~~~

"I think I'm ready."

Logan looks at himself in the mirror, adjusting his bowtie. He hadn't gone super extra with his 'date' outfit, despite Roman's insistence to go big or go home. (Which wouldn't really matter, as Thomas is home right now, and therefore they wouldn't need to go very far.)

Just a few changes, to treat himself. The blue striped bowtie, obviously, some black dress pants, black socks and a black dress shirt instead of a polo. He also tried out a new shampoo, just for that extra self-care. That may sound like a fairly big change, but Roman looked uncomfortable when he presented the outfit.

Roman waves his hand about, diverting his eyes. "Ugh, whatever. You look great. I still think a full tux would've been a better choice."

"That would most likely be overdressing. I don't want to go into this date looking like a buffoon, now do I?" He retorted, slipping on his dress shoes. They're sleek and black, with a heel that gives him just that extra added height.

"Pfft, coming from the Nerdy Professor! You look like a buffoon all the time, I'm just doing you a favor."

"You don't think I'm ready like this?" Logan asks.

"You do. You're rocking it. No romo." Roman says, giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"No... Romo?" He asks.

"Uh, yeah. Like... Uh, romantic. I invented it. Just now." Roman says, nervously fiddling with his sash.

"Oh." And if that doesn't feel like a metaphorical stab to the gut, Logan's not sure what it is.

Roman stands for a few seconds in silence, before looking away, into the mirror. "Now, go get your Daisy, Loguigi."

"That was a stretch, but thank you." Logan takes Roman's hand, squeezes it (he's sure Roman won't mind. He may think of it as a reassurance to calm Logan's nerves. Logan thinks of it as he wants to hold Roman's hand), and walks to the door.

"Logan-" Roman says before he can leave, and Logan turns back to him. He opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and seems to realize that Logan's waiting for him to say something. His hand reaches towards him, then recedes.

"Yes?"

"Good luck." He slumps, giving what seems to be an encouraging smirk. Logan nods, adjusing his bowtie once more, and strutting out of the room. If he had a cape, it would be flowing behind him dramatically, due to the sheer energy of his determination. Tonight is going to be the start of a big change.

"Alright Patton, prepare yourself for the strangest date you'll ever go on." He says in full confidence.

~~~

Patton sat at the dining table, feeling certainly awkward. Things certainly looked... Different. It was dim, mostly because the only light sources were an array of candles and a strand of fairy lights. There was a silky tablecloth thrown over the table, and a lovely bouquet of red roses in a glass vase as the centerpiece. There were also two glasses, and a bottle of red wine. Soft violin music played from an unknown source.

Usually this was something Patton would coo at. He always loved romance between people. Whenever Thomas and his boyfriends over the years hung out, it would be all he'd talk about. How happy he is for them. He'd even help Roman out with helping Thomas in his gestures of romance. It's true, Patton loved romance.

However, not when it was directed at himself.

He didn't want to be rude and leave, obviously. Logan set this up, and the last thing Patton wanted to do was break his heart beyond repair. He loves Logan as a friend, and he cares about him, and the emotions he barely lets himself show.

Patton twiddles with his thumbs, sweating quite a bit. He wonders what Roman has to do with this. He's certainly not also going to be here, unless this is a three-way date. That is unlikely, as there are only two chairs. Perhaps he's the wing-man? That would make sense, as he's much better in the romance category than Logan. But wait a minute, why would he help? Doesn't Roman-

"This is atmospheric." Patton gets pulled out of his thoughts by Logan standing there, looking at the decor. He takes a seat. Pouring himself a glass of the wine, he takes a big sip, before setting it down. "Patton, I have something to tell you."

Oh no.

Patton's sweating buckets now. "B-before you do, I just want to tell you that I respect you Logan, and that you're a very good person, and that I cherish the time we spend together, but I guess I haven't told you some very important information about myself, and I hope this doesn't hurt you too bad, it's that-" He takes a deep breath, about to spill. He's always been scared of this moment. Didn't he already tell Logan? Does he not believe in his identity? Patton opens his mouth to speak.

"You're aromantic. I know that Patton, and I respect that. Your orientation is completely justified and valid. I was going to tell you that this was not my idea. I do not harbor any romantic feelings for you, and I certainly don't expect you to either." Logan says, taking another sip of wine.

"Oh."

Well, that makes Patton feel much better.

"Then... Why are we here?" He asks, the nervous feeling replaced by confusion.

"Well..." Logan blushes as red as the wine. "I happened to be... Discussing my 'lack' of romantic feelings for... a side, which I realised was in fact a falsehood, and then that side happened to swoop in right after I realized, and mistook my presentation for being about you. Therefore, he decided to set us up."

The cogs in Patton's brain start to turn. He's not exactly known to be the brightest of the bunch, but he thinks he can decipher this one.

"Nm...Teh... Oh, it's Roman." He looks at Logan, who lowers his head into his hands.

"Yes. Yes it is." He admits.

"So, he doesn't know." Patton concludes.

"No, no he doesn't."

The words finally settle in, and Patton's face brightens significantly in a matter of milliseconds. "Oh my god! Logan! You like him!" He stands up, and jumps for joy. He twirls around the room a few times, and then pulls up Logan and gives him a hug. "I'm so proud of you kiddo."

"Thank you Patton. It certainly felt strange admitting it." Sighs, hugging him back. They break off soon after.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Patton asks, a little bit worried.

"I don't think I'm quite ready yet." They both sit down. "That's actually why I'm here. I was wondering if we could keep up a sort of facade for a while, until I'm ready to tell Roman. Obviously, we won't make anything official, but I could use your help, as I am not very skilled in this romance business, and we could use fake dates as a sort of counseling session. I could.. Use your help." Logan admits.

Patton is surprised, but delighted. "Oh! Well, thank you for telling me kiddo. I wouldn't mind helping you out." He pats Logan' shoulder encouragingly. "Do you... have a plan?"

"Not yet. I didn't want to start without you, in case I would need to scrap the whole thing." Logan takes another sip of wine.

“That’s absolutely A-okay. I don’t know if I’d be much help today though, cause this roller-coaster ‘date’ has really tired me out!” Patton says. (He’s never quite been put on the spot, and then given a plot twist like that one before. Oh wait, haha, he has.) He needs a bit of a mental break before he does any of that adultery thinking.

Logan looks around the room. “We aren’t on a roller coaster.”

“It’s an expression.” Patton clarifies. He sighs, adjusting himself on the seat. “I forgot that I haven’t come out to Roman yet. Or the others, for that matter.”

“You don’t have to if you aren’t comfortable. There’s never a bad reason not to come out.” Logan assures him, finishing his glass of wine. “And if you ever need my help, I will be there to support you in whatever ways I can.”

“Alrighty kiddo.” He smiles, looking to the kitchen.

“Do we have any leftover cookies?”

Patton suddenly looks guilty. “Well… About that.”

“Patton.” Logan’s gaze snaps to him, surprised. “Last time I checked, there were at least five left.”

“It wasn’t just me! Janus had one too!” He pleads, stating his case.

“One? That leaves four.” Logan squints at him. “I wanted at least two more for myself.”

A light in Patton’s brain ignites, and he jumps up. “Oh! What do you say we turn this into a baking ‘date’ then??” He does over exaggerated quotations with his hands on ‘date’.

“Bake ‘date’ it is then.” Logan fixes his bowtie in steely determination, and they both make their way to the kitchen.

~~~

“How did the date go?” Roman asks when Logan returns to his room, a giant fluffy red robe draped over himself, face mask on, and nails in the process of being painted. He’s got some showtunes that Logan doesn’t know the name of playing from a vinyl record player, which is illogical, because he’s pretty sure the musical is modern and that they can’t play voices, but he doesn’t comment.

“It went surprisingly… Well. He told me he may need a few more dates to make a decision.” Logan lies, trying to put anything other than indifference in his voice.

“Oh.” Roman looks taken aback for a second. “That’s great Specs. I’m proud of you.” The shaky hand he was painting swerves off to the side, and nail polish gets all over his finger. He looks at it, sighs, and puts the brush back into the bottle.

“You know, it isn’t a good idea to paint your nails in bed.” Logan sits on the edge, (of his own bed. Strange how Roman didn't just go back to his own room. He’s quite the stark contrast, him and his items bright red in a sensible dull, midnight blue room.) and turns his torso to face him.

“But it’s so much more dramatiiic. Besides, you told me not to touch your desk, and I am a princ- uh, a man of my word.” He laughs a little nervous laugh. “Besides, I can just clean it up with the powers of magic.”

“That’s nice.” Logan says, distracted by Roman’s nails. He’s hiding the hand he messed up. On his non-dominant hand, he has masterfully done nails, red with golden designs, such as a crown on his middle finger, a flower pattern on his pointer, thumb and pinky, and on the ring finger there’s an ‘L’...

Logan gently extends his hand. “Can I see?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” Roman lets him take his hand. Up close he notices that the gold is sparkly. Certainly a touch that is in character.

“What does the ‘L’ stand for?” Logan asks, looking at him.

Roman seems to burst red in the face. “O-Ooh it means ‘Left’. I… Often forget which direction is which, so I put it on my nails to remember. There’s no second meaning behind it or anything. Not at all.” He smiles wide.

Now Logan suspects there may be a second meaning, but he does not comment. “Is it okay for me to see your other hand?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t want to, I mean, it’s not nearly as good and it isn’t at all finished and I just made a mistake-”

“I didn’t ask if I would want to see it. I asked if you were okay with me seeing it.” Logan cuts his self-deprecating ramble off, assuring him softly. “I won’t look for the imperfections if you don’t want me to.”

“I…” Roman sighs and nods. “Go ahead.”

Logan takes Roman’s right hand gently with his own, and brings it close enough to inspect. It retains the same colors, but even with just the base red layer it looks a little bit less neatly done. The color extends past the cuticle, and you can see little bumps and imprints of things that accidentally touched the nail before it could fully dry. It wasn’t bad, per se, because those things could easily be fixed without removing the entire coating, but it probably seemed pretty bad to Roman when comparing it to his other hand. And then there was the streak, which was unfortunate but can be arranged.

“I can help you with this hand, if you’d like.” He offers, much to Roman’s surprise.

“Sure… But you don’t have to-”

“Preposterous. I want to help, and although I am not a master in the arts and creating designs, I happen to be a master duplicator. I believe Virgil described it as ‘cloning but like without the technology part and shit’. I even remade an exact duplicate of a frankly disgusting and creepy doll for Remus from scratch.”

“Oh.” Roman laughs softly. “Talented.”

“Yes. I am.” Logan says, internally giddy from the compliment. He uncaps the nail polish remover from a very fancy tray, where all the supplies are stationed on. “We just need this for the stain.” He takes a cotton pad, letting go of Roman’s hands to wet it, and recaps the bottle. He retakes Roman’s right hand, and lightly swipes the pad across the smear.

“You smell like baking.” Roman notes, barely over a whisper.

“That makes sense. We did some baking. Mostly me, and he kind of watched until they were ready to decorate.” He places the cotton pad in a little glass junk bowl on the tray.

“Are you sure he’s not just going to use these dates to make him cookies?” He says lightheartedly, tapping his other hand along to the sound of the music.

“Perhaps” Logan laughs a little bit. “Actually, I set aside a bunch for you. They’re in a bag, wrapped in a ribbon. That usually wards off everyone else from eating what’s inside for a few days, but do get to them before the fourth day because that’s often when Remus loses his patience.” He doesn’t admit that it was a spur of the moment decision, and that he felt like a lovesick fool setting aside those for him. He did admit that to Patton though, who chuckled.

“Mmm, thank you. What kind?” Roman asks, as Logan uncaps the red nail polish bottle and starts applying a light coat on each nail to even things out.

“Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip.” Roman’s favorite. That may have also been on purpose.

“Oh.” He says, and that’s where that subject of conversation ends. Logan continues applying the coating, then recaps the bottle.

“Alright, this will need to dry.” Logan guides his hand to a solid resting place. They sit quietly for a moment, only the sound of what he recognizes as Razzle Dazzle playing. It’s quite strange to have music in here. The rows and rows of dark-wood bookshelves, kept neat and clean, seem much brighter like this. His planning cork-board, with strings run around and pictures and notes in a neat order (along with the depressing sight of his calendar), looks less dull. Maybe it’s his mood. Maybe it’s just Roman.

“Logan?”

“Yes?”

Roman scoots over, without moving his drying hand. He leans in closely, looking just above Logan’s eyeline.

“Y-yes?” He squirms as Roman reaches with his dry hand to the top of his head. He shakes Logan’s hair, and he presumes it looks like a mess now.

“Flour.”

“What?” Logan asks, as he returns to sitting like he did before.

“You had flour in your hair. It was bothering me.” Roman informs him, pointing to his head.

“Ah.” They return to their silence.

When Logan determines the perfect time for the polish to dry, he uncaps the glittery gold nail pen. Using the other hand as reference, he copies the designs finger by finger, putting all of his concentration into it.

“And… We’ll put an ‘R’ here... ” He tries his best to copy the font of the swirly ‘L’. It looks pretty good, if he does say so himself. Which he does say out loud.”

“Yeah, it does. Thank you Logan.” He looks up at Roman, who smiles a very shy smile. He suddenly brightens, and jumps up, rattling the tray and scaring Logan. “Aha! I’ve thought of a perfect nickname! Holm Office Photopy Machine! I need to write that down.” He fumbles around, and then summons himself a very used-looking sketchbook. He stays standing on the bed, flipping through pages and then scribbling it down.

“That certainly is long.” Logan adjusts his glasses in surprise.

“Long like my- Sorry that was a strange thought.” Roman makes his things disappear, checks his nails, and then flops back down onto the bed.

“I hate to bother you, but at one point I’m going to have to sleep on here.” He watches as Roman unsticks his face-masked face from the bed in disgust.

“Why did I do that- Oh, yeah, sorry.” Roman gets up, looking guilty, and certainly not as fancy as he did before, fibres from the blankets stuck to his face mask and some of the mask still attached to Logan’s bed. Still, he’s got his stupid smile on his face, and that power stance. He’s…

“Wonderful.” Logan says under his breath as Roman’s turning to leave.

Unfortunately, he heard, and he turns back, confused. “Huh?”

“One earful.”

“Alright.” Roman looks perhaps even more confused, but turns back and sinks out, with a “Buh-bye Specs.”

When he’s out of Logan’s room, he snaps his fingers to rid of the mess (He left the tray there too. The nerve. The gall. He sends it to Roman’s room, and prays that it lands somewhere incredibly inconvenient just for revenge sake. He also keeps the record player, because he could use some music in his life) and prepares for bed.

Step 1: Complete.

~~~

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